GRANTHAM, Pa. – The second-seeded Messiah men's volleyball team outlasted the third-seeded Arcadia Knights in the MAC Semifinals on Thursday night by a final score of 3-1 (25-21, 25-22, 19-25, 25-21). The Falcons will move on to face the top-seeded Stevens Ducks, who blasted the Misericordia Cougars 3-0 (25-15, 25-12, 25-12) in the other semifinal, this coming Saturday at 7:00 p.m. in Hoboken, N.J. with the MAC Championship on the line.
 
In Grantham, the Falcons took the first two sets by scores of 25-21 and 25-22 on Thursday night. Arcadia stayed alive by taking the third 25-19, but Messiah held strong and clinched the match with a 25-21 victory in the fourth.
 
Mason Nissley led all players with 26 kills while Matt Knab handed out 54 assists in the four-set match. Messiah hit .306 as a team while holding the Knights to a .153 hitting percentage.
 
As mentioned, the MAC Championship will take place on Saturday night against the top-seeded and No. 2 ranked nationally Stevens Ducks at 7:00 p.m. in Hoboken, N.J.
 
How It Happened
The Falcons jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with strong efforts in the opening two sets of the match. The Knights rebounded by taking the third, but Messiah held off Acadia's push to take the fourth and claim a spot in the MAC Championship.
 
In the first set, Messiah used an early 6-1 run to take a 10-6 lead. During the quick burst, Ryan Givens led the effort with a pair of kills to give the Falcons the lead. From there, Messiah stayed in control for the rest of the set, eventually winning by a score of 25-21. Mason Nissley finished the set with six kills as the Falcons hit .256 in the set.
 
The second set saw the Falcons put together an even stronger effort on the attack. Messiah hit .458 in the set with 14 kills against just three errors. Despite the strong hitting percentage, the Falcons claimed the set by just three points, winning 25-22 to take a 2-0 lead. A half dozen service errors from Messiah kept the match close, but it was Mason Nissley again with a strong set helping push the Falcons to the two-set lead. Nissley finished the set with nine kills.
 
A strong third set for the Knights' kept Arcadia's season alive as they took the set 25-19. A 5-1 run in the middle of the set put the Knights up 13-10 and they never gave the lead back to the Falcons down the stretch.
 
Messiah raced out to an early 10-4 lead in the fourth set and needed every bit of that early lead in a set that took over half an hour to complete. Arcadia trimmed the lead to as few as two points on multiple occasions with the two squads siding out on 11-straight points from 17-15 to 23-20. Once again it was Mason Nissley closing out the set, scoring all three of Messiah's final points with kills, including an emphatic final blow to close out the set at 25-21 and the set, 3-1.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons advance to their third-straight MAC Championship Match. They will take on the Stevens Ducks on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. in Hoboken, N.J. Messiah is looking to avenge a loss in the 2022 MAC Championship against the Ducks as well as a regular season loss against Stevens from Apr. 1. The Falcons claimed the 2021 MAC Championships against Stevenson for their lone conference crown in program history.