OWINGS MILLS, MD - The Messiah women's volleyball regular season ended this evening with a 3-1 loss (26-24, 19-25, 22-25, 20-25) against the Stevenson Mustangs. Rachel Rashford led the team in kills on the night (17), while Emma Swartz had a team high 44 assists and Maddy Eby tacked on a team leading 23 digs. In addition for Emma Swartz, her 44 assists pushed her across the 1,000 career assist mark in her young career.

The loss puts the Falcons in the number four spot in the playoffs and will host LVC on Monday, October 31, at 7:00 PM in Grantham, Pa for the MAC Commonwealth Play-In Game. 

Action
The first set was relatively even up until midway when Messiah had tied the score at 13-13. The Mustangs would go on a 5-0 run to take an 18-13 lead which prompted a Holly Motheral timeout. The Falcons clawed their way back taking leads of 22-20, 23-21 and 24-22 before Stevenson tied it up at 24-all. One Mackenzie Feight kill later along with an attack error from Stevenson gave the Falcons the first set win 26-24. The second start picked up right where the first set ended, with Messiah taking an early 6-1 lead to set up a Stevenson timeout. This time, it was Stevenson who clawed their way back tying the game at 13-all. Stevenson went on a 5-1 run to take a 18-14 lead before the Falcons would take a timeout. Stevenson would close out the set 25-19 to even up the match at 1-1 headed into the third set. 

After Stevenson took an early 7-3 lead, Messiah closed the gap and remained close throughout the entirety of the set. The Falcons opened up a 19-17 advantage before Stevenson won four straight to take a 21-19 lead. After a Messiah timeout, Stevenson won two of three points to hold a 23-20 lead which prompted another Falcons timeout. The Mustangs would prevail again, this time winning 25-22 to take the 2-1 set lead into the fourth set. The fourth set was a battle, with each team trading points in a back ad forth affair. Stevenson was narrowly ahead 18-16 before the Falcons evened it up at 18-18 and then 19-19. The Mustangs won two quick points to go ahead 21-19 before the Falcons wanted to talk things over on a timeout. A Feight kill put the Falcons within one before a Stevenson block gave the Mustangs a 22-20. Once again, Messiah called a timeout to rally in the set. The Mustangs answered after the timeout with a service ace and won the next two points to take the set 25-20 and the match 3-1.  

Stats
Rachel Rashford led the Falcons in kills with 17 while Mackenzie Feight added 12. Emma Swartz had a team high 44 assists, pushing her across the 1,000 career assist mark for her career. Maddy Eby led the team in digs with 23 while Lielbriedis, Feight  and Swartz each tacked on 18, 15 and 14 digs respectively. In the match, the Falcons hit .115 with 52 kills on the night. 

Up Next
The loss drops the Falcons record to 18-9 and 5-3 in the conference as their regular season comes to a close. Messiah has secured a spot in the MAC Commonwealth Play-In Game where they will host LVC on Monday, October 31, at 7:00 PM. That game will be held in Grantham, Pa on Jordan Court in Hitchcock Arena.