SALEM, Va. – The Messiah men's volleyball team saw their run through the NCAA Tournament come to a close on Thursday against the No. 1 Carthage Firebirds in Salem, Va. The Falcons fell 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-19) in the NCAA National Quarterfinals.
 
Messiah came out firing, jumping out to a 15-11 lead in the opening set, but the Firebirds rallied back to take a 1-0 lead after taking the first set 25-22. Carthage would go on to take the second and third sets by scores of 25-15 and 25-19, to complete the sweep and advance to tomorrow's National Semifinal.
 
Messiah wraps up their season with an overall record of 17-3, their best season in program history after winning the Middle Atlantic Conference Championship and advancing to the National Quarterfinals.
 
Falcons Come Out Swinging
Facing the No. 1 team in the country, Messiah came out quick to start the opening set of their semifinal match. The Falcons took an early 4-2 lead with kills from Mason Nissley and Nate Bowman. That lead grew to 7-3 after the Falcons took advantage of three-straight Carthage errors.
 
The Firebirds used a 5-1 run to tie the set at 8-8, but Messiah rallied back with a 9-4 streak of their own to take a five-point lead at 17-12. Four different Falcons recorded kills during the run as Carthage called a timeout to regroup.
 
Carthage Rallies Back
The timeout worked for the Firebirds as Carthage won seven of the next eight points to take the lead back at 19-18. The Falcons struggled out of the timeout with four errors during Carthage's strong run of play.
 
While Messiah did level the score at 20-20 with a kill from Jared Keul and a Firebirds' error, Carthage claimed five of the final seven points to take the set 25-22.
 
Firebirds Advance
In the second set, Messiah hung around, holding leads of 8-7, 11-10, and 12-11 in the early portion of the game. However, just like their sizable run in the opening set, Carthage rattled off a 7-1 run to take an 18-13 lead. That run continued with the Firebirds winning 14 of the final 17 points in the set to take a 2-0 lead with a 25-15 victory in the second set.
 
The break between sets two and three did little to slow the Firebirds down. Carthage opened the third set on an 8-1 run. While the Falcons showed signs of life late in the set, the opening run was enough to hold off any charge the Falcons had. Carthage closed out the set by a 25-19 score and the match in straight sets, 25-22, 25-15, 25-19. With the victory, Carthage advances to Friday evening's National Semifinal against the winner of the Vassar and Dominican Quarterfinal happening later this afternoon.
 
Recapping a Season of Firsts
While the Falcons had their hoped their season would extend through Saturday night, Messiah caps off a historic season on Thursday. In just their fourth year as a program, Messiah won their first Middle Atlantic Conference Championship, qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history, and advanced to the National Quarterfinals as one of the final eight teams standing in the country.
 
Messiah earned a number of first on the individual side of things. The Falcons earned their first All-American honor, picking up three this season with Nate Bowman (Second Team), Mason Nissley (First Team), and Matt Knab (First Team), all claiming accolades. Head coach Justin Beachy was named the Conference and Regional Coach of the Year after guiding Messiah to their most successful season in program history.