HUNTINGDON, Pa. – Facing another tough test, the No. 6 Messiah men's volleyball team suffered a 3-1 (22-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-19) setback against the undefeated No. 2 Juniata Eagles. The Falcons took the opening set thanks to a .360 hitting percentage in the set but were unable to keep that momentum as the Eagles block came up big throughout the match.
 
As a result, Messiah dropped their second match of the season, moving to 7-2 on the season.
 
In the loss, Mason Nissley set a bit of Messiah men's volleyball history, becoming the first player in program history with 1,000 career kills. Nissley finished the night with a match-high 19 kills and picked up his 1,000th midway through the third set.
 
The Falcons will be back in action on Saturday afternoon at the Misericordia Tournament, taking on No. 8 SUNY New Paltz at 1:00 p.m. and Immaculata at 3:00 p.m.
 
How It Happened
The Falcons got off to a fast start, taking the opening set 25-22. The Falcons hit .360 in the first set with 14 kills and just five errors. The first set was indicative of the larger match with the two teams trading blows throughout the game. The Falcons trailed 11-10 midway through the set but rattled off four-straight points to take a 14-11 lead. After Juniata took a slim lead back at 19-18, the Falcons ended the set on a 7-3 run highlighted by kills from four different Falcons. Mason Nissley, Ryan Givens, and Matt Knab picked up kills before Alex Kagoro ended the set with a kill. The Falcons took the set 25-22.
 
Juniata started the second set with a 6-2 run, but the Falcons responded with six-straight points to take a 10-8 lead in the first half of the set. From there, Messiah and Juniata traded points until the set stood level at 18-18. Juniata took the lead off a kill from Maxwell Barr and then won four of the next five points to take a 23-19 lead. The Eagles would eventually take the set 25-21 and level the match at 1-1.
 
Once again, the third set was a back-and-forth game that hinged on a Juniata run later in the set. With the score even at 15-15 midway through the set, Juniata rattled off five-straight points to take a 20-15 lead. Messiah won two-straight points off a kill from Matt Knab and an attack error by Juniata, but that was as close as they would get in the final points of the set as the Eagles took the set 25-19. The highlight of the third set was Mason's Nissley's 1,000th career kill that came early in the set off a set from Matt Knab. The kill made it a 4-1 Messiah lead in the early portion of the set.
 
The fourth set started with a 5-1 Juniata run with the Eagles taking an eventual 14-9 lead in the middle of the set. Messiah did their best to close the gap, making it a two-point game at 20-18 after back-to-back Juniata errors. Unfortunately, for the Falcons, the Eagles won five of the final six points to take the set 25-19 and the match 3-1.
 
As a team, Messiah hit .184 in the match, their lowest mark of the season. The Falcons finished with 47 kills, but committed 28 errors in the match.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons will be back in action this weekend when they take on the Misericordia Tournament in Dallas, Pa. Messiah will square off with No. 8 SUNY New Paltz at 1:00 p.m. and finish their day against Immaculata at 3:00 p.m.