SELINSGROVE, Pa. – The Messiah women's volleyball team opened the 2023 season with a dominating 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-12) victory over the Nazareth Golden Flyers on Friday night to begin the Susquehanna Tournament. The Falcons were led offensively by Mackenzie Feight and her match-high 11 kills. Chayney Barnhart would score six kills of her own and Sarah Hart  picked up seven kills in the match as the Falcons hit .212 as a team. Defensively the Falcons received great contributions from Katie Quesenberry's four blocks. As well as two blocks a piece from Hart, Feight, and Anna Weldon.
 
Emma Swartz dished out 14 assists to lead all players while Caitlin Lielbriedis finished the match with a game-high 11 digs.

The Falcons will wrap-up the Susquehanna Tournament tomorrow afternoon with matches against SUNY Oneonta and Susquehanna at 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m., respectively.
 
How It Happened
The Falcons and the Golden Flyers started off set one competitively. After a 4-0 Golden Flyers run tied the opening set at 9-9, Messiah rattled off six unanswered points to take a 15-9 lead midway through the set. During the run, Feight, Barnhart, and Swartz all earned points for the Falcons. From that point on the Falcons would maintain their lead throughout the set, including an additional 5-0 run to finish of the first set by a score of 25-18.
 
Heading into set two Messiah stayed hot. The Falcons would capitalize from back-to-back attack errors to jump to a quick 3-1 lead. Scoring would come in bunches for the Falcons due to Swartz's ability to find her teammates all over the court. She would pick up six assists in the set and as mentioned, finish the night with a match-high 14. Maddy Eby would get involved with a service ace and Sarah Hart followed with multiple kills. A block from Katie Quesenberry and multiple kills from Feight and Barnhart helped propel the Falcons to a 25-19 set-two victory, the closest set of the day.
 
In the third set, Messiah would get out to a 14-9 lead, needing just one more win to complete the sweet over the Golden Flyers. Feight, Barnhart, and Hart did the bulk of the damage, scoring most of the Falcons' points through the first half of the set. After a kill from the Golden Flyers' Tessa Grover made it 14-10, the Falcons responded by dominating the rest of the set. Messiah scored in bunches as they added to their lead with two and three-point runs. Caitlin Lielbriedis would finish off match with an ace to pick up Messiah's first win of the season with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-12).
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons will continue their weekend at the Susquehanna Tournament tomorrow with matches against SUNY Oneonta at 3:00 p.m. and Susquehanna University at 5:00 p.m.