HUNTINGDON, Pa. - The Messiah women's volleyball team opened the Juniata Invitational on Friday night by dropping a four-set match with the University of Mary Washington Eagles by a 3-1 (25-19, 25-12, 23-25, 25-17) final. After dropping the first two sets, Messiah battled back and claimed the third set by a 25-23 score to extend the match. The Falcons trailed throughout the third set, but won nine of the final 13 points to force a fourth set. The Eagles finished off the match with a victory in the fourth by a score of 25-17.

Individually, Mackenzie Feight led the Falcons with 14 kills and 13 digs for a solid double-double. Emma Swartz dished out 26 assists to lead Messiah in the match.

The Falcons will be back in action on Saturday with two more matches against Stevens Institute of Technology at 1:30 p.m. and the No. 3 Juniata Eagles at 6:30 p.m.

How It Happened
The Falcons were in the driver's seat at the start of a close opening set. Messiah held leads of 4-2, 7-5, and 10-9 before the Eagles ripped off five-straight points to take a 14-10 lead. A kill from Rachel Rashford halted the run momentarily, but Mary Washington continued to hold the momentum, building their lead to seven at 22-15. With the Falcons down by seven, kills from Mackenzie Feight and Caitlin Lielbriedis along with a block from Rashford and Julia Bowen brought the Falcons within four at 23-19, but back-to-back points from the Eagles gave them the set 25-19.

In the second, Messiah once again jumped out early with a 6-3 lead that was highlighted by a pair of kills from Lielbriedis. Mary Washington responded with 11-straight points to take control of the set at 14-6. The Falcons could not stop the momentum throughout the remainder of the set. Juniata claimed the set 25-12.

Trailing 2-0, Messiah responded with their best set as a team, hitting .152 while holding the Eagles to a .051 hitting percentage. In the third, the Falcons actually trailed early before rallying back. Down 5-1 to start, Messiah took their first lead of the set at 16-15 before once again letting the Eagles pull ahead. Four-straight Eagles' points made it 19-16, but Messiah responded with a 9-4 run with Mackenzie Feight picking up three kills during the stretch. The result was a 25-23 set victory for the Falcons to force a fourth set.

In the fourth, Mary Washington took an early lead at 7-3 and never looked back, winning the set 25-17 and the match 3-1.

What's Up Next
With the setback, Messiah moves to 14-4 overall on the season and will be back in action tomorrow afternoon with a pair of matches. Messiah will take on the Stevens Institute of Technology Ducks at 1:30 p.m. and the No. 3 Juniata Eagles at 6:30 p.m. as they conclude the Juniata Invitational.