GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Messiah women's volleyball team held off conference opponent York College in a four-set victory. The Falcons won the match 3-1 (25-10, 25-22, 20-25, 25-18) to improve to 20-7 on the season and 5-2 in conference play.
Mackenzie Feight had an impressive 17 kills on the night, while
Cassidy Dell racked up 21 assists to lead the Falcons. In the back row
Caitlin Lielbriedis picked up 18 digs on the night.
Messiah will be back home for their final regular season matchup Friday night against Marymount University. Start time is set for 7:00p.m in Hitchcock arena.
How it Happened
The Falcons came out the gates storming and dominated the first set from start to finish. The set one victory came from multiple Falcon runs, including three separate five-point runs. Heading into the midway point of the set, the Falcons were up 16-7.
Mackenzie Feight, and
Sarah Hart dominated at the net leading the Falcons in kills throughout set one. Messiah would hold the Spartans to just three more points for the remainder of the set, winning set one 25-10.
Set two was a closer one then the Falcons would have liked. Messiah would head into the midway point of the set up 15-9. From that point on, it would look like the Falcons were going to control the remainder of the set, extending their lead to 22-14. However, the Spartans would show great resilience and battle their way back into the set cutting the lead to 23-22. Following a timeout from Messiah to stall the Spartans momentum, a kill from Chaney Barnhart, and a set error from York would propel the Falcons to a 25-22 set two win.
Heading into set three the Spartans were determined to grab a must needed win to extend the match. York would do just that, from start to finish the Spartans would take advantage of multiple Falcon errors, including one seven-point unanswered run and two five point runs to take set three 25-20, moving the match to 2-1.
The Falcons did not waiver at a set three loss and bounced back in strong fashion to win set four. Feight, Hart,
Katie Quesenberry, and
Anna Weldon all contributed to bolster the Falcons to a 25-18 win. The set four win included an all-around dominant performance from start to finish, to grab a much needed 3-1 conference victory over the Spartans.
What's Up Next
Messiah improved to 20-7 on the season and 5-2 in conference play with just one game left in regular season play. The Falcons will finish the season at home against the Marymount Saints Friday night at 7:00p.m.
