GRANTHAM, Pa. – After playing three-straight extended matches over the weekend, the No. 6 Messiah men's volleyball earned a straight-set sweep of the visiting Lancaster Bible College Chargers on Wednesday night. The Falcons completed a 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-15) on their home floor of Jordan Court in Hitchcock Arena, hitting at a .329 clip in the contest.
Mason Nissley paced the offense with 15 kills while
Matt Knab dished out 30 assists while picking up three service aces and five digs.
The victory moves Messiah to 16-2 as they head on a two-week hiatus over spring break. The Falcons will be back in action on Wednesday, Mar. 15 when they travel to Wilkes-Barre to take on the King's Monarchs in a conference match.
How It Happened
The Falcons played he opening set from the lead for a majority of the set. Messiah took a 10-5 lead after 15 points, but it was a 5-0 run after the Chargers cut the lead to just one at 14-13 that solidified the position in the set. In the end, the Falcons closed out the set by a score of 25-20 with a hitting percentage of .259 in the game.
The second set was much more of a back-and-forth battle with the two sides nearly siding out on every serve for the first 15 points. It was the Chargers with a slim lead at 8-7. After the Falcons went on a 3-1 run to take a 10-9 advantage, Lancaster Bible rattled off a 5-1 run to take a three-point lead at 14-11. Three-straight Charger errors tied the set at 14-14, but a few points later, Messiah trailed 18-16. Kills from
Mason Nissley and
Jacob Hamm followed before
Matt Knab ripped off three-straight service aces to give Messiah a 21-18 lead. From there, Messiah held on for the 25-21 set victory to take a 2-0 lead.
In total it was a 9-3 run for the Falcons to close out the second set with Nissley, Hamm,
Adam Casper, and
Conner Stauffer picking up kills and
Matt Knab contributing three aces.
Carrying a 2-0 lead into the third, Messiah pulled away early in the set as the earned a 25-15 victory in the game and a 3-0 sweep in the match. The Falcons picked up 14 kills in the set with just three errors for a .423 hitting percentage.
What's Up Next
As mentioned, the Falcons will take a couple weeks off to recharge before the return to action for the final 10 matches of the regular season. Messiah's next match will be played on Mar. 15 in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. against King's at 7:00 p.m.
