ALTOONA, Pa. - In a battle of top-10 teams, No. 6 Messiah men's volleyball fell short against the No. 7 Southern Virginia Knights on Saturday morning in Altoona by a final score of 3-1 (25-20, 23-25, 25-12, 25-22). The Falcons and Knights each claimed one of the first two sets that were closely contested, but the Knights dominated the third set to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
Southern Virginia jumped out to an early lead in the fourth set, but Messiah hung around and made it a game late, but the early 13-4 hole proved to be too much and the Knights earned a 25-22 victory in the fourth to clinch the match.
 
Mason Nissley led all attackers with 21 kills while Matt Knab dished out 33 assists and Owen Hanzelman accumulated 10 digs.
 
Messiah will be back in action on Tuesday when they host Penn State Altoona for their season opener at 7:30 p.m. on Jordan Court in Hitchcock Arena.
 
How It Happened
A tight opening set went to Southern Virginia 25-20. The Knights held a slim advantage for a majority of the set, but used a 5-1 run to take their lead from 13-12 to 18-13 later in the game. Messiah hung around, closing the gap to as few as two points at 22-20 off of consecutive kills from Mason Nissley, but the Knights won the final three points of the set and clinched the set 25-20.
 
The second set, looked much the same expect in the opposite direction. Messiah held a slim lead for a majority of the set, but held on to tie the match at one set apiece. The Falcons held the largest lead of the set at three points on four different occasions, but had to fend off a 3-1 run from the Knights at the end of the set to clinch the game by a 25-23 final.
 
With the match tied, Southern Virginia firmly took control of the match with a 25-12 victory in the third set. Messiah struggled to find a rhythm as the Knights stormed out to leads of 13-3, 16-4, and 16-6. The Falcons pulled within 10 points at 22-12, but three-straight Messiah errors ended the set, in favor of Southern Virginia.
 
The Falcons continued to look out of sorts at the beginning of the fourth set, trailing by as many as nine at 13-4. Messiah showed their fight, battling back with an 8-2 run to close within three at 19-16. That run was fueled by three kills from Mason Nissely and a kill each from Ryan Givens and Nate Bowman. Messiah continued to chip away, cutting the lead down to just two at 24-22, but in the end the Knights held on for a 25-22 victory in the set. Southern Virginia's Nahuel Recabarren collected the final kill, his 17th of the afternoon. Recabarren finished the day with a .306 hitting percentage while leading the Knights' offense on the day.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons will host their first match of the season on Tuesday when Penn State Altoona comes to Grantham at 7:30 p.m. on Jordan Court in Hitchcock Arena. In their four years as a program, Messiah has been stellar at home, owning a 32-9 record on campus.