GRANTHAM, Pa. - The Messiah men's volleyball team finished the regular season with an 11-2 record in the Middle Atlantic Conference to finish as the second-seed. As a result, the Falcons will face the third-seeded Stevenson Mustangs on Jordan Court in Hitchcock Arena on Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. in the Middle Athletic Conference (MAC) Semifinals with a trip to the MAC Championship on the line.
The Falcons are the defending MAC Champions after earning a 3-2, reverse sweep of the Mustangs in last year's Conference Championship Match. To defend their title, Messiah will have to defeat the Mustangs on Wednesday and then earn a victory over the winner of the No. 1 Stevens vs. No. 5 Arcadia on Saturday in the Championship. Arcadia earned a spot in the MAC Semifinals with a 3-0 victory over No. 4 Alvernia on Monday night in the Play-In Game.
Tickets are required for all MAC Tournament contests and can be purchased at the gate for the following prices: Adults - $5, Senior Citizens - $4, Students (with ID) and Children - $2, Children under 6 - Free.
See below for the quick preview of the MAC Tournament field:
After a rocky 2-3 start to the season, the Falcons ripped off 17-straight victories in the middle of the season to improve to 19-3. Among those 17-straight victories was a stretch of 29-straight set victories that smashed the previous program record of 12. The Falcons started the season ranked No. 6 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) National Poll, but quickly fell out after the slow start to the season. They currently are ranked No. 13 in the poll after their strong finish to the season.
In the conference, Messiah ranks first in a number of major categories, including hitting percentage (.315), assists (11.46 per set), kills (12.61 per set), and service aces (2.41 per set). Nationally, the Falcons' hitting percentage (fourth), assists per set (fifth), and kills per set (sixth) are top-10 marks across all of Division III.
Individually,
Mason Nissley has not slowed down after being named the National Player of the Year in 2021. The junior leads the conference in kills, averaging 4.95 per set with a .337 hitting percentage (fifth in the conference).
Matt Knab facilitates the offense, dishing out a conference-high 10.00 assists per set along with the 45 service aces this season (0.73 per set the most in the conference).
Messiah's middles,
Ryan Givens and
Nate Bowman are both in the top-five in the conference in hitting percentage with marks of .464 and .380, respectively.
The Mustangs are a hard team to figure out. Stevenson has five victories over ranked teams, but suffered three losses in conference play, dropping two against Messiah and a 3-1 match against top-seeded Stevens to finish as the third seed in the MAC Tournament. Stevenson has played in all three of the MAC Championship matches, winning the 2018 title before losing 3-2 against Arcadia in 2019 and 3-2 against Messiah in 2021.
A defensively-minded team, Stevenson leads the MAC with 939 digs and is second in the conference with 234.5 total blocks. On attack, it's a three-headed monster with Tanner Stauffer (283 kills), Aleks Melbardis (247 kills), and Tim Flanagan (233 kills) all finishing the regular season with 230-plus kills.
When they met: After beating Messiah in their first seven all-time meetings, the Mustangs have dropped their last four contests, including both meetings this season. On Mar. 23, Messiah swept Stevenson 3-0 (27-25, 25-17, 25-17) in one of their most complete matches of the year. Messiah hit .424 as a team with
Mason Nissley finishing with 21 kills and a .500 hitting percentage. Less than a week later on Mar. 29, Messiah earned a 3-1 (25-21, 10-25, 25-16, 25-15) victory over the Mustangs in Grantham. Outside of a rough second set, Messiah was strong. The Falcons hit .254 in the match against a .156 mark from the Mustangs.
No. 1 Stevens Institute of Technology Ducks - 26-3 overall, 13-0 conference
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Stats
The Stevens Ducks have suffered just three setbacks all season long and are currently ranked No. 4 in the nation according to the American Volleyball Coaches' Association (AVCA) Poll. They carry a 26-3 overall record into the postseason with a number of strong victories, including a win over defending National Champion Carthage. Their three losses have all come against ranked teams including No. 1 Springfield, No. 5 Rutgers-Newark, and No. 9 Vassar.
The top defensive team in the conference, Stevens averaged 2.43 blocks per set and 9.48 digs per set during the regular season. Connor Feulner leads the defense at the net with 92 total blocks on the year for an average of 1.18 per set, tops in the conference. Offensively, the Ducks share the wealth well. Koby Sherman (3.16 kills/set), Jack Fyda (2.76 kills/set), and Percy Bickford (2.03 kills/set) have all averaged two-plus kills per set while playing in at least 65 sets.
When they met: The Falcons and Ducks were on a collision course all regular season to meet on the final day of the year to decide the top seed in the MAC Tournament. With both teams sporting undefeated records in the conference, Stevens defeated Messiah in a five-set thriller this past Saturday 3-2 (20-25, 29-17,27-29, 25-20, 15-11) to earn the top seed this week. Messiah actually outhit the Ducks .223 to .219 in the match, but 27 missed serves was the difference for the Falcons in the five-set loss. Thanks to a pair of victories last season over the Ducks, Messiah holds a 2-1 all-time record against Stevens.
Arcadia earned their way into the MAC Semifinals with a sweep of fifth-seeded Alvernia on Monday's Play-In Game. The Knights were far stronger in conference (7-6 record) than they were in non-conference games (4-10) during the regular season.
The Knights are led by Collin Nissley (2.59 kills/set) and Owen Heft (2.27 kills/set) offensively with Anthony Devantier (591 assists) and Vaughn McConnell (335 assists) sharing the setting duties for the attack. Defensively, Ryan Miller (67 blocks) and Kevin Abraham (54 blocks) led the way while Owen Heft averages 1.42 digs per set to lead the team.
When they met: Messiah and Arcadia met this past Saturday in the final match of the regular season. With no seeding implications on the table, Messiah used the match as an opportunity to empty the bench. The Knights earned a 3-0 (25-23, 25-16, 25-22) sweep of the Falcons, with Messiah seeing some strong individual efforts in the setback.
