DALLAS, Pa. – The No. 6 Messiah men's volleyball got through another tough test on Saturday with a 3-2 (25-20, 23-25, 23-25, 25-22, 15-12) victory over No. 6 SUNY New Paltz. The Falcons finished their day with a 3-0 (25-11, 25-13, 25-8) sweep of the Immaculata Mighty Macs in their second and final match of the day.
 
Mason Nissley led the Falcons with 22 kills in Messiah's match against New Paltz.
 
With the two victories, Messiah moves to 9-2 on the season and will be back in action on Wednesday night with they host the Elizabethtown Blue Jays at 7:00 p.m. on Jordan Court in Hitchcock Arena.
 
No. 6 Messiah defeats No. 8 SUNY New Paltz - 3-2 (25-20, 23-25, 23-25, 25-22, 15-12)
The Falcons got off to a blazing start in the opening set against SUNY New Paltz, hitting .619 with 13 kills on 19 attempts. The result was a 25-20 victory in the set to take an early 1-0 lead. Messiah's offensive attack slowed down over the next two sets, but it was service errors that plagued the Falcons in the second set. The Falcons committed 11 errors from the service line in the second set. The result was a 25-23 win for the Hawks to level the match at 1-1.
 
In the third, the Hawks kept the Falcons out of system with Messiah attempting just 13 swings in the third set. Messiah could not find their grove in the set and hit just .154 as a team. The Hawks took the set 25-23 and took a 2-1 lead.
 
Needing a win, Messiah was up for the task in the fourth set. It was a back and forth set until the Falcons rattled off six-straight points to build a 19-13 lead. From there, the Falcons cruised in to take the set 25-22 with Mason Nissley ending the set with a kill. As a team, Messiah hit .391 with a dozen kills against just three errors.
 
By winning the fourth set, Messiah forced a winner-take-all fifth set.  
 
The fifth was back and forth, but saw the Falcons trail 9-7 midway through the set. Messiah fought back with two-straight points, but later trailed 12-10. The Hawks committed a service error to jump started a 5-0 Messiah run to end the set, 15-12 in favor of Messiah and the match, 3-2. Conner Stauffer collected a kill on the late run while the Falcons picked up a block and two Hawks' attack errors to claim the match.
 
Mason Nissley finished with 22 kills and a .277 hitting percentage while Matt Knab dished out 39 assists in the match. Knab and Nissley also combined for seven service aces with Knab finishing with a match-high four.

No. 6 Messiah defeats Immaculata - 3-0 (25-11, 25-13, 25-8)
The Falcons finished their trip to the Misericordia Tournament with a comfortable 3-0 sweep of the Immaculata Mighty Macs. Messiah dominated the match from start to finish, allowing the Mighty Macs to score just 32 total points in the straight-set sweep. Zac Barbato led Messiah with 11 kills, hitting at a .667 clip for the match. As a team, Messiah finished with 35 kills and a .549 hitting percentage, their highest in a single match this season and their third highest in a single match in program history.

Messiah picked up eight service aces in the match with Adam Casper and Jacob Hamm each finishing the match with three apiece.

What's Up Next
The Falcons will return home on Wednesday for a home match against the Elizabethtown Blue Jays at 7:00 p.m. on Jordan Court in Hitchcock Arena.