SCRANTON, PA - The Messiah women's volleyball team went 2-0 on the day in the Electric City Invitational on Saturday beating RIT and Scranton by scores of 3-1. Feight led the team in kills in both matches with 14 and 18 respectively.
The Falcons will travel to St. Davids, Pa to play Eastern in an important conference matchup on September 27, at 7:00 PM.
Messiah beats Rochester Tech 3-1 (25-21, 20-25, 25-21, 25-23)
In the first set, RIT took the lead early on Messiah and held midway through the set before the Falcons were able to rally to even the score at 20-20. Messiah won five of the next six points to take the first set 25-21. The second set was close but RIT came out on top of that one, winning six of the last eight points to take the set 25-20. The third set was all Messiah in the beginning, jumping out to a 13-2 lead. Messiah would close out the set 25 -21 and would do the same in the fourth set. Messiah had an 11-5 lead early and that later became an 18-14 advantage. RIT put the pressure on evening the score at 18-all and even took a 23-20 lead. The Falcons would win the next five points to take the set and the match 25-21, 20-25, 25-21, 25-23.
Feight led the team in kills with 14 while Lielbriedis added 11 and also led the team in digs with 15. Swartz lead the team in assists with 32.
Messiah beats Scranton 3-1 (25-27, 25-17, 25-22, 25-19)
In the second match of the day for Messiah, host of the Invitational Scranton was on deck. Scranton took the first set in a back and forth affair with neither team generating more than a three point lead. Scranton would prevail taking the first set 27-25. Messiah rebounded with a 25-17 win in the second set after opening up the set up 15-7. In the third set, Messiah held a 12-7 lead and continued with a 20-13 lead later on. Scranton was able to rally back but Messiah closed the door and took the third set 25-22. In the fourth set, it was Scranton who started with a 11-6 lead but Messiah came back to take a 19-17 lead which prompted a Scranton timeout. Scranton was forced to burn another timeout later on when Messiah held a 22-19 lead late in the fourth set. It didn't matter, as Messiah won three straight to take not only the set 25-19, but the match 3-1.
Feight once again led the team in kills with 18, while Lielbriedis and Barnhart each added eight kills. Swartz had a team high 33 assists and added 18 digs. Eby led the team in digs with 20 in the win over Scranton.
Next
The two wins brings the Falcons record to 13-1 on the season but a critical conference match awaits them this week. Messiah will travel to Eastern on Tuesday, September 27, for a match at 7:00 PM in St. Davids, Pa. Eastern ended the Falcons season last year in the MAC Commonwealth Semifinals beating the Falcons in a thrilling 3-2 match.
