GRANTHAM, PA. – On Wednesday evening, the Messiah women's volleyball team defeated the Pride of Widener University 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-16) to improve to 13-5 on the season and 2-0 in MAC Commonwealth play. The Falcons offense was stellar in all three sets, led by Sarah Hart with 14 kills. Emma Swartz and tallied 18 assists and 15 digs, while Cassidy Dell finished with 11 assists. In set one, the Falcons used a 9-1 run in the middle of the set to give them a lead in which they would never surrender. In set two, Sarah Hart and Cassidy Dell led the charge with five and four kills respectively, giving the Falcons a 25-16 set two win. Lastly in set three, a balanced attack from Hart, Chayney Barnhart, and Dell propelled the Falcons to a 25-16 set three win, completing the sweep.
 
Up Next
The Falcons will take on the Lions of Albright College Tuesday, Oct 15th.

Set One
The Falcons got off to a slow start in set one, as the Pride jumped out to an early 7-4 lead. However, an 8-3 run led by Makenzie Adams, Sarah Hart, and Julia Bowen gave the Falcons a 11-10 lead at the midway point of the set. Over the next stretch of points, Messiah continued to apply pressure extending their lead to 21-15. Hart turned up the heat, tallying four kills during the stretch. Messiah would finish off the set with a 5-2 run, winning by a score of 25-17.
 
Set Two
Messiah jumped on the Pride quick, grabbing an early 4-0 lead off the serve of Emma Swartz. Widener would respond with an 4-0 run of their own to knot up the set 4-4. However, from that point on the Falcons would catch fire and never look back. Cassidy Dell would lead the charge with two kills over an 7-2 run to extend the Falcons lead to 11-6. Messiahs' offense continued its onslaught, scoring seven of the next 10 as Hart, Dell, and Katie Quesenberry all contributed with points, giving the Falcons a 17-9 lead. Despite the Pride finding points late, the Falcons were able to close out the set 25-16 led by a strong offensive performance.
 
Third Set
The Falcons picked up where they left off, taking advantage of an early 5-1 lead. Both teams exchanged points through the midway mark, but Falcons Swartz, Barnhart, Hart, and Bowen held off the Pride extending the Messiah lead to 10-6. Messiah would than go on a 7-3 run to lead 16-9, giving themselves a comfortable cushion over the Pride. The Falcons took advantage of a couple Widener errors to give them a 21-14 advantage. Adams and Caitlin Lielbriedis led the way during the final stretch of the set to give Messiah the 25-16 set three win.
 
Stats
A strong all-around performance from the Falcons propelled them to a sweep over Widener. Sarah Hart led the way with 14 kills, while Cassidy Dell finished with 10 kills. Emma Swartz tallied a team high 18 assists, while Dell picked up 11 assists of her own. Caitlin Lielbriedis rounded out the leader board with 17 digs.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons will travel to Albright College for a match against the Lions. First serve is set for 7:00pm on October 15th.