GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Messiah women's volleyball team opened a tri-match with the Neumann Knights and Dickinson Red Devils with a 3-0 (25-23, 25-15, 25-14) victory over Neumann and then followed that victory up with a 3-1 (25-12, 25-19, 20-25, 25-21) win over the Dickinson Red Devils to complete the day 2-0.
 
The Falcons will be back in action on Tuesday when they host the Hood Blazers for a MAC Commonwealth match at 7:00 p.m. on Jordan Court in Hitchcock Arena.
 
Messiah defeats Neumann – 3-0 (25-23, 25-15, 25-14)
The Falcons opened up early leads of 4-1 and later 7-4 in the opening set, but the Knights quickly tied the opening set at 7-7. Messiah built their lead to four points at 12-8 following back-to-back aces from Emma Swartz. While the Falcons led the rest of the way, Neumann continued to hang around. The Knights kept the set within four points the remainder of the game. Messiah held a 24-20 lead, needing just one more point to win the match, but Neumann went on a 3-0 run before Chaney Barnhart put away the set with a kill, giving Messiah the set 25-23.
 
In the second set, Messiah opened with an 11-4 run and never looked back. The Falcons used runs of 6-2 and 5-1 to build a double-digit lead en route to a 25-15 victory in the set. The set gave the Falcons a 2-0 lead heading to the third.
 
Early in the third, Messiah won 10-straight points with Rachel Garratt serving to create separation at 12-3. The Knights closed the gap to as few as six later in the set, but another strong Messiah run of 6-1 closed out the set by a 25-14 final.
 
The Falcons used a balance attack to control play throughout their first match of the day. Three Falcons finished the match with at least nine kills. Chayney Barnhart finished with a .435 hitting percentage and a dozen kills. Mackenzie Feight collected 10 kills, six digs, and a pair of aces while Caitlin Lielbriedis hit .409 with nine kills and nine digs. Maddy Eby led the defense with 22 digs while Emma Swartz dished out 31 assists.

Messiah defeats Dickinson – 3-1 (25-12, 25-19, 20-25, 25-21)
The opening set started slow for the Falcons against the Dickinson Red Devils. The Falcons dropped the first four points, calling a quick timeout to regroup. Following the timeout, the Falcons won 14 of the next 16 points to flip the script and take a 14-6 lead. The massive run featured four aces from Emma Swartz and a pair of kills from Rachel Rashford. Dickinson closed the gap to as few as six points at 16-10, but Messiah went on a 9-2 run to close out the set by a score of 25-12. As a team, Messiah had seven service aces in the opening set.
 
While the second set was slightly closer, it was still dominated by the Falcons. Like the first set, Dickinson claimed the lead early. This time the Red Devils won the first five points and held a 10-7 lead midway through the game. Messiah rattled off seven-straight points with Mackenzie Feight fueling the streak with a pair of kills. The run gave the Falcons their first lead of the set at 14-10. After the Red Devils pulled within one at 17-16, Messiah won seven of the next eight to put the set out of reach at 24-17. A few points later, Messiah claimed the second set by a 25-19 final after an attack error from the Red Devils.
 
Dickinson put together their strongest set of the match in the third, picking up 11 kills, three blocks, and three service aces. As a result, the Red Devils edged the Falcons 25-20 in the set to force a fourth set.
 
In the fifth, Messiah built an early lead, but the Red Devils with a young team and high potential fought valiantly and never gave up. Messiah's 20-11 lead proved to be too much in the set as the Red Devils were unable to complete the comeback. Messiah clinched the set 25-21 and the match, 3-1.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons will be back in action on Tuesday when they host the Hood Blazers in a MAC Commonwealth on Jordan Court in Hitchcock Arena at 7:00 p.m.