GRANTHAM, Pa. – On Tuesday evening, the Messiah women's volleyball team defeated Hood College 3-0 (25-14, 25-7. 25-13) to improve to 6-0 in the MAC Commonwealth and 18-7 overall. The Falcons dominated in all three sets to get past the Blazers coming off back-to-back losses during the Salisbury Tri-Match.
 
Up Next: The Falcons will travel to Wilkes University for a tri-match with the Colonels and the Cardinals of Catholic University Saturday Nov 2^nd.
 
How It Happened
Set One
The Falcons were able to come out early establishing a groove by taking an 6-2 lead. However, the Blazers proved to be strong offensively chipping away back into the set tying it at 8-8. Sarah Hart, Makenzie Adams, and Julia Bowen all tallied points for the Falcons. Over the next stretch of points, following a couple of Blazer errors, the Falcons would rally behind Emma Swartz's serves to extend their lead to 18-10. From that point on Messiah's defense would stiffen up, holding the Blazers to just four more points going on to take set one 25-14.
 
Set Two
To begin the second set, the Falcons came out soaring thanks to Swartz's three service aces opening a 6-0 lead. Following a Blazer timeout, the Falcons would tack on five more points extending their lead to 11-0. Chayney Barnhart and Adams would get involved in the scoring for Messiah throughout the run. Hood managed to break up the run scoring back-to-back points to bring the score to 11-2. However, Messiah's defense continued to be stellar getting blocks from Katie Quesenberry and Barnhart as they extended their lead to 17-5. To close out the set Julia Bowen, Adams, and five Blazer errors gave the Falcons the 25-7 set two win.
 
Set Three
The third set had a little more competitiveness as the Blazers traded points early on with Messiah all knotted up at 4-4. However, a 4-0 run from Caitlin Lielbriedis two aces and Harts kills gave the Falcons an 8-4 lead. Following a couple more Blazer errors the Falcons looked up and held an 11-4 advantage. Hood managed to sneak some points in to cut the deficit to 13-8. However, continued pressure from Bowen and Barnhart allowed Messiah to hold on to an 16-8 lead late in the set. Following two quick points from the Blazers, Barnhart and Dell stuffed an attack and halted the Blazer short run to make the score 17-10. For the remainder of the set it would be all Messiah, going on to hold Hood to just three more points as the Falcons took the third set 25-13.
 
Stats
Makenzie Adams led the way 11 kills on 21 attacks. Emma Swartz tallied 16 assists and five of the 10 service aces. While Caitlin Lielbriedis finished with 14 digs.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons will travel too Wilkes-Barre, Pa for a tri-match with the Colonels and the Cardinals of Catholic University Saturday Nov 2^nd at 2:30 & 5pm.