ST. DAVIDS, Pa. – The Messiah women's volleyball team took its first MAC Commonwealth conference loss in the 2022 season by a final score of 3-1 (17-25, 19-25, 31-29, 21-15) against the Eagles of Eastern University on Tuesday night. The Falcons fall to 13-2 overall and 3-1 in the conference on the season.
Mackenzie Feight led the team with 20 kills and 18 digs in the contest.
The Falcons will return to action on Friday September 30 at home against Penn State Altoona at 7:00 p.m. and then again on Jordan Court in Hitchcock Arena on October 5 when they take on Widener.
Falcons Drop Tight Match 3-1 (17-25, 19-25, 31-29, 21-15)
Messiah began the first set down 2-0 but recovered quickly and opened up a 7-4 lead early on. That three-point lead stayed with the Falcons as they led 12-9 before the Eagles scored seven straight points to retake the advantage in the first set. Messiah finally ended the scoring run but couldn't keep the Eagles down as they broke open a 19-13 lead before Messiah called a timeout. Eastern kept the momentum and ended up with a 16-5 run to end the first set.
Chayney Barnhart and
Caitlin Lielbriedis both recorded three kills in the opening frame.
The second set began as a tight battle again, with the two squads scoring back and forth. Messiah performed very well behind the service line, as two consecutive service aces from
Rachel Garratt gave the Falcons an 8-7 lead and then another ace from
Caitlin Lielbriedis put Messiah up 10-9 just a few points later. Valiant efforts by the Falcons' defense kept long rallies alive, but multiple times those points fell the way of the Eagles. The Falcons couldn't find any momentum late in the set as hitting errors began to mount, and they fell 25-19 in the second set.
In an absolute thriller of a third set, the Falcons finally found their stride at the end of the match. With attack errors still plaguing Messiah's hitters, the Falcons fell to a 15-9 defecit. Two kills by
Anna Weldon forced a timeout by the Eagles with the score at 16-12. Then, with the Falcons down 19-15, Messiah ripped off a 7-0 run to take its first late lead in the match. Eastern then went on its own four-point run, but a 23-23 tie would mark the beginning of the intense finish to the set. The Falcons turned around their misfortunes from earlier in the match and did not record a single attack error the rest of the way, earning themselves a hard-fought 31-29 victory in the third set.
The Falcons took that momentum into the fourth set, pulling off a 6-0 run to claim a 14-12 advantage.
Julia Bowen and
Anna Weldon sent down a huge block to keep the Falcons' two point lead intact at 16-14. Messiah kept an advantage until a heartbreaking five-point run for the Eagles with the Falcons up 21-20 ended the match.
Mackenzie Feight led the squad with 20 kills and 18 digs on the night. For the Falcons' primary hitters, it was
Chayney Barnhart who led the way in efficiency, hitting .333 (11 kills) in the match.
Emma Swartz racked up 37 assists and 10 digs, while
Maddy Eby picked up 17 digs of her own.
Rachel Rashford chipped in seven assists when Swartz needed a breather, and also recorded six kills in a solid overall match.
The Falcons fall to 12-10 in the all-time series against the Eagles after defeating them last year in the regular season but taking a tough loss in the playoffs during a MAC Commonwealth semifinal match.
What's Next
The Falcons will return to the floor on Friday September 30 at 7:00 p.m. in Grantham against Penn State Altoona and then again at home on October 5 when they take on Widener.
