OWINGS MILLS, MD. – On Tuesday afternoon, the Messiah women's volleyball team traveled to Stevenson University for a match against the Mustangs. In the biggest match of the year thus far, the Falcons got the Stevenson monkey off their back. Thanks to a 10-0 run to cap off set four, Messiah defeats Stevenson 3-1(25-19, 22-25, 25-18, 25-19) for the first time since 2009. Sarah Hart led the team with an astounding 18 kills, while Emma Swartz put together a stellar performance of 24 assists and 16 digs.
 
Up Next: The Falcons will host Neumann University Friday Oct. 4th.
 
Set One
The Falcons got off to a solid start against the Mustangs. Through the first couple of possessions, Sarah Hart and Cassidy Dell made their presence known leading the Falcons to an early 6-4 lead. Messiah continued their early offensive rhythm scoring points at will. Following a Makenzie Adams kill, the Mustangs were forced to take a timeout down 11-6. Despite the timeout, Messiah never took their foot off the gas as Chayney Barnhart and Dell extended the Falcons lead to 17-13. Stevenson tried to make a late push, cutting the deficit to 21-18. However, late points from Hart and Barnhart lifted the Falcons to a 25-19 set one win.
 
Set Two
To begin the second set, the Mustangs grabbed an early 6-2 lead. However, the Mustangs could not contain the Falcons for long. A 6-0 run from Messiah allowed them to regain an 8-6 lead. Following a Hart point, both teams exchanged service and attack errors bringing the score to 12-12. Dell, Adams, and Hart continued their dominance on the front line as Messiah held on to an 16-15 advantage in the midway point of the set. As the Falcons clinged on to a lead, the Mustangs persistence kept them in the set only trailing 20-19 late. Adams managed to sneak two more kills late however, the Mustangs capped off the set scoring four in a row to steal set two 25-22.
 
Set Three
All tied up at 1-1 in the match, the Falcons came out firing on all cylinders. Hart, Dell, and Caitlin Lielbriedis all tallied points as Messiah led 10-1 early on. The Falcons defense continued to be stellar, both at the net and back row as Messiah extended their lead to 16-4. However, following a Stevenson service error, the Mustangs stringed four straight points cutting the lead 17-8. Stevenson continued its attack, doing anything they can to come back in the set. Following another run from the Mustangs, they found themselves only trailing 20-13.  As panic started to set in, the Falcons were able to Holt the Mustang run, closing out the set 25-18 with points late from Hart and Katie Quesenberry.
 
Set Four
Both teams traded points early on, with the Falcons trailing 5-4. However, Messiah errors allowed the Mustangs to extend their lead to 9-5. Boller and Adams did their best to provide offense when they could, but the Mustangs continued to hold on to a 14-8 lead. Messiah continued to hang around trailing 19-15, despite Stevenson finding success offensively. However, following a Barnhart kill the tide began to shift in favor of the Falcons. Emma Swartz's services gave Stevenson trouble, as Messiah rallied off her to score 10 straight points with kills from Boller, Dell, and Barnhart to win the set 25-19.
 
What's Up Next:
The Falcons will welcome Neumann University Friday Oct. 4th at 7:00p.m.
 
Stats
Sarah Hart led the team with 18 kills on a whopping 50 attacks. Cassidy Dell had a strong outing herself stringing together 13 kills. Emma Swartz was once again a force at the setting position picking up 24 assists and 16 digs, including two service aces. Libero Caitlin Lielbriedis tallied a team high 27 digs on the night continuing her defensive excellence.