HUNTINGDON, Pa. – In dominating fashion, the No. 4 Messiah men's volleyball team swept the No. 3 Juniata Eagles 3-0 (25-23, 25-16, 25-20) on Saturday night to punch their ticket to the program's first-ever Final Four. The Falcons advance to take on the No. 2 Stevens Ducks on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. in Owings Mills, Md. On the campus of Stevenson University.
Mason Nissley led the Falcons in the National Quarterfinal with 22 kills and a .400 hitting percentage.
Matt Knab dished out 39 assists in the match with a pair of service aces as the Falcons hit .341 as a team.
Messiah edged out the opening set, 25-23, picking up a key kill from
Adam Casper down the stretch to take a 1-0 lead. From there, the Falcons took all the momentum, using a 7-2 run in the middle of the second set to create some peroration en route to a 25-16 second set victory. In the third, Messiah held a massive 21-11 lead late in the set and despite a late rally from the Eagles, the Falcons held on for the 25-20 victory in the set and a 3-0 sweep to advance to the National Semifinals.
How It Happened
After dropping their previous match against the Juniata Eagles by a 3-1 final score in early February, Saturday's National Quarterfinal felt different from the start. The Falcons and Eagles played a tight opening set, but it was clear early that the Falcons were sharp. Messiah took leads of 9-7 and later 14-10 to be on the front foot early. While Juniata fought back to tie the set at 15-15, Messiah swiftly responded with a 4-1 burst thanks to consecutive kills from
Matt Knab,
Mason Nissley, and
Nate Bowman to put the Falcons up 19-16.
After the Eagles pulled within one at 21-20, Messiah claimed the next two points to go up 23-20, but back-to-back Juniata points once again pulled the Eagles within one.
Adam Casper came up with a huge kill to to give Messiah set point. After a kill for the Eagles, Messiah claimed the set, 25-23 on a Juniata service error to take a 1-0 lead.
As a team, Messiah hit .343 in the set with
Mason Nissley scoring nine points off kills in the set.
In the second set, Messiah put their foot on the accelerator with a massive 9-3 run that took a one-point Messiah advantage to a 16-9 Falcons' cushion midway through the set. Nissley had a trio of kills during the stretch as Messiah was able to cruise home and claim the set by a 25-16 margin, building a 2-0 lead in the match in the process. The Falcons were even better on attack in the second set than they were in the first, hitting .357 as a team with 14 kills and just four errors. Defensively, they held the Eagles to a .103 hitting percentage in the set, forcing seven Juniata hitting errors.
While Juniata jumped out to an early 4-2 lead in the third set, Messiah methodically went to work, swinging momentum in their direction for the bulk of the set. The Falcons claimed the next three points to take a 5-4 lead before stretching their lead to marks of 9-7, 13-8, 16-10, and eventually 21-11 across the remainder of the set. While Juniata used a 7-1 run to cut the Falcons' lead down to 22-18, their strong play throughout the set allowed Messiah to close out the match with a clean sweep. The next four points were sided out with Nissley earning a pair of kills for the Falcons before another Juniata service error closed out the set, 25-20 and the match 3-0, in favor of the Falcons.
What's Up Next
With Saturday's victory, Messiah booked a date with a familiar foe in the National Semifinal, the No. 2 Stevens Ducks. The Falcons and Ducks squared off in an epic five-set MAC Championship just a week ago and now the conference foes will face off with a trip to the National Championship Match on the line. The Falcons and Ducks will meet on the campus of Stevenson University on Friday, Apr. 28 at 7:30 p.m. as the second match of the day.
Prior to part three of the Falcons and Ducks 2023 season trilogy, the No. 1 Vassar Brewers and No. 5 North Central Cardinals will meet in the other National Semifinal at 5:00 p.m. The winners of the two semifinals will compete on Sunday, April 30 at 2:00 p.m. in the NCAA Division III National Championship Match.
