READING, Pa. – The Messiah men's volleyball team earned revenge over the Alvernia Golden Wolves on Wednesday night, claiming a 3-1 (25-22, 25-22, 18-25, 25-19) victory over the Golden Wolves in their gym. Just a week after falling to Alvernia in five sets, Messiah picked up the sweep to earn three valuable points in the race for the top seed in the MAC Tournament.
 
Ian Parzyszek earned a double-double in the match with 11 kills and 12 digs while Mason Nissley continues to lead the offense with 27 kills in the match. Matt Knab dished out a match-high 43 assists in the four sets while Owen Hanzelman finished with 13 digs.
 
The Falcons have just two matches left in the regular season. Messiah is slated to host the Wilkes Colonels this Saturday with a doubleheader scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. in Hitchcock Arena. Wilkes enters this weekend's matches with an overall record of 0-11.
 
Opening Up A Lead
Messiah and Alvernia went toe-to-toe through their first two sets with Messiah just barely edging the Golden Wolves in both games by scores of 25-22. In the opening set, Alvernia seemingly had the answer for every run the Falcons put together. With Messiah trailing 7-5, the Falcons rattled off six-straight points with Mason Nissley collecting four kills in the run to give Messiah a 11-7 lead.
 
Despite the Messiah run, Alvernia answered with 6-2 run of their own. Later in the set, with the score level at 21-21, two kills Ian Parzyszek fueled a 4-1 Messiah run to give the first set to the Falcons by a 25-22 score.
 
In the second set, Messiah and Alvernia traded sizable runs in the middle of the game to keep things close. The Falcons trailed the Golden Wolves late in the set at 21-20, but back-to-back kills from Nate Bowman put Messiah in front 22-21. An Alvernia kill tied the game at 22-22 before a kill and an ace from Ian Parzyszek on consecutive points gave the Falcons at chance at set point at 24-22. An error by the Golden Wolves gave the Falcons the set at 25-22 and a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
Alvernia Takes a Set
After a pair of tight sets to begin the match, the Falcons looked to be in great shape for a 3-0 sweep after jumping out to a 7-3 lead early in the third game. The Golden Wolves had other plans, going on a 16-5 run to take control of the set. Alvernia went on to claim the set 25-18 to extend the match to a fourth set.
 
Messiah struggled offensively in the third set, turning in one of their lowest hitting percentages in a game this season at .056 with just nine kills and seven errors.
 
Finishing Off the Match
The fourth set opened similarly to the third, with Messiah jumping out to an early lead at 9-3. The difference between the third and fourth was that the Falcons did not relinquish the lead for the remainder of the match. Alvernia trimmed the lead to as few as three points on multiple occasions, but they were unable to break through and Messiah claimed the set 25-19 on a kill from Mason Nissley.
 
Messiah rebounded nicely after a sluggish third set, hitting at a .367 clip in the fourth set with 14 kills and just three errors.
 
What's Up Next
As mentioned, the Falcons will welcome the Wilkes Colonels to Hitchcock Arena on Saturday for a doubleheader beginning at 1:00 p.m. Messiah enters the final weekend of the regular season with a 12-2 record in the conference and overall while the Colonels are winless in 11 matches. Wilkes has claimed five sets this season.