READING, PA. – On Tuesday evening, the Messiah women's volleyball team picked up their 14^th win of the season by defeating Albright College in three sets (25-21, 25-20, 25-16). In set one the Falcons faced adversity late, but multiple Lion errors allowed the Falcons to sneak away with a 25-21 set one win. In set two, Messiah could never pull away from the Lions, as Albright stayed persistent. However, Makenzie Adams late points propelled the Falcons to a 25-20 set two win. Lastly in set three, the Falcons were able to control the set throughout its entirety not surrendering a single lead, taking the final set 25-16. Sarah Hart and Makenzie Adams led the team with 10 kills each, while Emma Swartz tallied 18 assists, picking up her 2000 career assists.
 
Up Next
The Falcons will travel to Lebanon Valley College for a Tri-Match on Saturday Oct. 19th.
 
Set One
Both teams got off to a strong start, as the teams traded points early on, it would be a 5-0 Falcon run that gave Messiah a 10-7 advantage. Sarah Hart provided the spark with two kills during the run. Following an Albright timeout, Messiah continued its momentum, scoring another five straight points extending their lead to 15-7. However, the Lions took advantage of a couple Falcon errors, to cut the deficit to 15-12 at the midway point of the set. Katie Quesenberry provided a little offense with a kill, but the Lions continued its offensive surge scoring five more to tie the set at 17-17. Despite the Falcons surrendering a lead at the 19-18-mark, Messiah rallied behind four straight Lion errors, and points from Makenzie Adams, and Cassidy Dell to propel them to a 25-21 set one win.
 
Set Two
The Falcons offense found a groove early, thanks to Chayney Barnhart, Caitlin Lielbriedis, and Adams giving Messiah an early 6-3 lead. The Falcons began to feed the hot hand in Adams, as she scored three of the next four to give Messiah a 10-7 advantage. Albright managed to claw its way back into the set, cutting the deficit to 12-10. The Falcons strung together a couple more points, thanks to Barnhart and Lielbriedis. However, the Lions never wavered bringing themselves back into the set at 16-16. Despite Albrights' push, they could not contain the Falcons offense. Quesenberry and Hart got it started with back-to-back kills, but a group effort led the Falcons to score seven of the last 10 to win the set 25-20.
 
Set Three
Messiah picked up where they left off to finish set two, scoring seven of the first 10 to grab an early 7-3 lead. Emma Swartz, Hart, and Barnhart all contributed with points for the Falcons. Messiah continued its offensive prowess, scoring at will to extend their lead to 15-5. The Lions found some success in the middle of the set, but Messiah's offense was just too much extending their lead to 19-11. Dell and Hart carried the offense late scoring four of the next Falcon five points to extend their lead to 24-13. Albright managed to score three straight points, but it was not enough to mount the comeback, as Hart closed it out with a kill to win the set 25-16.
 
Stats
Sarah Hart and Makenzie Adams led the charge with 10 kills each. Cassidy Dell finished not far behind with seven kills herself but would total 13 assists on the night. Caitlin Leilbriedis tallied a total of 17 digs to once again lead the Falcons. Lastly, Emma Swartz put together an 18 assists performance picking up her 2000 career assists.
 
What's Up Next
Messiah will begin their long road trip with a tri-match at Lebanon Valley College. Their first match will be against the Dutchmen at 11:00a.m.