GRANTHAM, Pa. – For the second-straight day, the No. 15 Messiah men's volleyball team faced a nationally-ranked opponent on Jordan Court in Hitchcock Arena. On Saturday, the No. 7 Vassar Brewers came to Grantham and earned a 3-0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-17) sweep over the Falcons in the Messiah Invitational.
 
Messiah was unable to slow down a hot Brewers' attack that hit at a .395 clip for the match, finishing the three setter with 43 kills and just nine errors on 86 attempts. The Falcons hit .079 in the match with 22 kills to their name.
 
Noah Aurdos dished out a team-high 18 assists and Jacob Hamm collected nine kills while hitting .412 in the match.
 
With the setback, Messiah falls to 1-2 on the season and will be back in action this Tuesday when they head to Elizabethtown College to take on the Blue Jays at 7:00 p.m.
 
How It Happened
The Falcons hung around with the Brewers for the opening points of the first set, but after a 5-1 Vassar run took a tie game from 7-7 to 11-8, the Brewers stayed out in front for the rest of the set. Messiah trailed by just two at 16-14, but six-straight Vassar points, including four-straight blocks, took the match to 22-14. After a missed serve, Vassar won the final three points to take the set 25-15.
 
In the second set, Vassar jumped out to a quick 11-5 lead, but the Falcons put together a 5-1 run to pull within two at 12-10. Just a few points later, Alex Kagoro fueled a 4-1 Messiah run with a pair of kills that brought the Falcons within one at 15-14. After trading points, the Falcons trailed by just one at 18-17, but Vassar went on a 7-3 run to end the set by a score of 25-20 and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
The third set was all Vassar. The Brewers opened the set by taking a 21-10 lead. While the Falcons attempted a late comeback with Jacob Hamm picking up three kills on a 7-1 run, it was not enough as the Falcons dropped the set 25-17 and the match 3-0.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons have a busy week coming up with four matches. The Falcons will travel to Elizabethtown on Tuesday, host California Lutheran on Thursday, and square off with Kean and Randolph-Macon at the Kean Tri-Match on Saturday. The first match on the busy week will be a meeting against the Blue Jays in Elizabethtown at 7:00 p.m.