SALEM, Va. - The Messiah men's volleyball team won their first-ever NCAA Tournament game on Wednesday afternoon with a 3-2 (26-24, 22-25, 25-23, 21-25, 15-11) victory over the Fontbonne University Griffins in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. With the victory Messiah moves into Thursday's Elite Eight match against No. 1 Carthage at noon at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Va. The Firebirds earned a bye through the opening round and will be in action for the first-time in the NCAA Tournament tomorrow.
 
It was a back-and-forth battle throughout with the Falcons and Griffins trading blows every step of the way. Messiah struck first, winning the opening set 26-24 before dropping the second to Fontbonne. After the two sides split the third and fourth sets, the stage was set for a decisive fifth set. Messiah came out fast in the final set, taking a 4-1 lead and held on for the 15-11 set victory, advancing to the National Quarterfinals tomorrow.  
 
Messiah's potent attack was led by Mason Nissley, who finished with a match-high 29 kills on 51 attempts for a .373 hitting percentage. In addition to Nissley, Nate Bowman was fantastic with 21 kills and a .667 hitting percentage while Matt Knab dished out 58 assists, just one shy of his career high.
 
As mentioned, the Falcons continue their NCAA Tournament run on Thursday with a match against the Carthage Firebirds in the National Quarterfinals at noon.
 
Falcons Take Tight Opening Set
If Messiah had nerves playing in their first NCAA Tournament game in program history, it certainly did not show. The Falcons hit at a .500 clip in the opening set with just one error and 16 kills. In most sets, the Falcons would have cruised to a multi-point victory – this however was the NCAA Tournament. Fontbonne was just half a step behind, hitting .406 in the set and keeping things tight throughout.
 
Neither team held a lead of more than two points for the entirety of the set with the lead changing hands six times and the scored tied 19 different times in the set. Messiah had the only three-point run with Mason Nissley picking up a solo block and a kill on back-to-back points to fuel the quick burst. The mini run put Messiah up 18-16, but the Griffins would tie the score at 19-19, 21-21, and 24-24, before the Falcons notched two-straight points to end the match with a kill from Ian Parzyszek and a block from Nate Bowman.
 
Messiah won the important first set 26-24 to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
Griffins Tie Things Up
Fontbonne was on the front foot in the second, taking the first three-point lead of the match at 9-6 early in the game. That lead grew to as many as five at 21-16, following a 4-1 Griffin run. Messiah did not go down quietly in the set, winning three-straight on a kill and an ace from Mason Nissley and a block by Marshall Nixon and Jared Keul to pull the Falcons within two at 22-20. The late push was not enough as the Griffins claimed three of the final five points to win the set 25-22 and level the match at 1-1.
 
The Bowman Show
The third set belonged to Nate Bowman. After being honored prior to the match for his Second Team All-American nod, Bowman had picked up six kills across the first two sets. The third set he took over, picking up nine of Messiah's 17 kills in the set. He also added a pair of block assists to help Messiah to a 25-23 victory in the set.
 
Messiah raced out to an 8-3 lead in the lead in the third set, but the Griffins hung around. The Falcons' lead held steady at 17-11 before a massive 9-2 run for Fontbonne swung the momentum, and the lead, in favor of the Griffins.
 
The Falcons trailed 20-19, but Bowman picked up four kills and a block down the stretch in the set as the Falcons went on a 6-3 run to take the set by two points at 25-23. While the set belonged to Bowman, Nissley finished off the set with a kill, assisted by Matt Knab.
 
Fontbonne's Offense Takes Fourth
Trailing 2-1 entering the fourth, the Griffins were determined to force a decisive fifth set. Fontbonne made just one error and hit .636 as a team in the fourth as the Griffins earned the 25-21 victory over Messiah to force a fifth.
 
Fontbonne was paced in the set by nine total kills from their strong outside hitters, Cameron Graves and Ryan Lively. The duo combined for 37 kills in the match and a .453 hitting percentage.
 
Moving On
With every point meaning that much more in the fifth, Messiah jumped out to an early 4-1 lead behind kills from Bowman and Nissley as well as a pair of Fontbonne errors. The Griffins rallied behind a 3-1 run to pull within one at 6-5, but the Falcons claimed the next two points to stake an 8-5 lead midway through the set. Leading by two at 10-8, Messiah picked up consecutive kills from Nate Bowman and one from Mason Nissley to claim a 13-8 lead.
 
The Griffins won three of the next four points, closing the gap to three at 14-11, but Nate Bowman capped off the victory with a kill, his 21st of the afternoon to give Messiah the set at 15-11 and the match at 3-2.
 
With the victory, Messiah advances to Thursday afternoon where they will take on the No. 1 Carthage College Firebirds at noon in the Salem Civic Center. Carthage enters the NCAA Tournament as the top seed, holding a 20-0 overall record and dropping just one set in their 20 matches this season.
 
The winner of tomorrow's match will advance to the Final Four. Messiah is looking for their first trip to the National Semifinal while Carthage as been there twice (2012 and 2014). The Firebirds finished as the National Runner-Up in 2012.