POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – The No. 5 Messiah men's volleyball team split a pair of matches on Saturday afternoon, falling to the No. 2 Vassar Brewers 3-0 (25-12, 25-21, 25-23) before taking down the Ramapo Roadrunners 3-0 (26-24, 25-15, 25-17) to end the regular season. The Falcons will now turn their attention to the MAC Tournament where they will enter next week's action as the second seed. Messiah will host the third-seeded Arcadia Knights on Thursday, Apr. 13 at 7:00 p.m. on Jordan Court in Hitchcock Arena.
 
No. 2 Vassar defeats No. 5 Messiah – 3-0 (25-12, 25-21, 25-23)
After a tough opening set, put the Falcons in a 1-0 hole, Messiah got better throughout the match with strong sets of 21 and 23 points in the second and third sets respectively. Despite their best efforts, Messiah was taken down by another top-five opponent, marking yet another tough match against a nationally-ranked foe.
 
In the match, Messiah hit .217, but put together an especially strong third-set performance of .448. Mason Nissley and Ryan Givens led the Falcons with 10 kills each while Matt Knab dished out 33 assists. Givens was extremely efficient, collecting his 10 kills on just 14 swings while committing just one error for a .643 hitting percentage.
 
No. 5 Messiah defeats Ramapo – 3-0 (26-24, 25-15, 25-17)
The Falcons capped off their regular season with a convincing sweep of Ramapo to end their day in Poughkeepsie. The Falcons won four of the final five points in the opening set to clinch the first set, 26-24. The second and third sets were much more decisive with the Falcons wining by scores of 25-15 and 25-17 to earn the 3-0 sweep.
 
As a team, Messiah hit .314 in the set while holding the Roadrunners to a .146 hitting percentage. Mason Nissley could not be stopped in the match, earning 22 kills on 47 swings for a .357 hitting percentage. Matt Knab handed out 40 assists in the match while Nate Bowman picked up nine kills on 14 swings.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons will be back in action next week when they host the MAC Semifinals against the third-seeded Arcadia Knights on Jordan Court in Hitchcock Arena on Thursday, Apr. 13 at 7:00 p.m. The Falcons defeated the Knights 3-1 (20-25, 25-18, 25-15, 25-17) just over a week ago on Mar. 29 when they played in Grantham. The Stevens Ducks earned the top seed in the tournament and will play the winner of the Stevens vs. Misericordia Play-In Game in the other semifinal next week.
 
The MAC Championship will be played on Saturday, Apr. 15 at a time and location to be determined.