GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Messiah men's volleyball team swept the visiting Penn State Altoona Lions, 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-17), in a non-conference match on Jordan Court in Hitchcock Arena on Wednesday night. The Falcons were on the front foot all night long, outhitting the Lions .400-.122 in the match. Messiah was paced by a balanced offensive attack that featured three different hitters finishing with at least nine kills.
 
Ryan Givens led the way with 15 kills while Jacob Hamm (14) and Alex Kagoro (nine) also turned in quality performances on the front row. Noah Aurdos and Brandon Sharp shared the setting duties, finishing the three-set sweep with 22 and 16 assists, respectively.
 
With the victory, Messiah improves to 5-4 on the season and will be back in action this weekend when they head to Baldwin-Wallace for matches against the host Yellow Jackets (Friday at 7:30 p.m.), North Central (Saturday at 12:30 p.m.), and Nazareth (Saturday at 2:30 p.m.).
 
How It Happened
The Falcons used separate runs of 6-0 and 5-0 to take control of the opening set on Wednesday night. After the Falcons and Lions traded the first four points, Messiah rattled off a 6-0 streak to take an 8-2 lead early in the match. The run featured four consecutive kills and a block from Ryan Givens and Sean Gillespie. After the Lions cut the lead to just four at 14-10, Messiah pushed the lead back to nine points with a 5-0 run that featured three blocks. Down the stretch, the Lions pulled within six points at 22-16, but Messiah cruised to a 25-17 victory in the opening set.
 
In the second set, Penn State Altoona held a lead throughout much of the set. Late in the set, Messiah trailed 17-16, but used a 5-1 run to flip the lead into their favor at 21-18. The Falcons and Lions sided out the next eight points and the Falcons took the set, 25-22 to build a 2-0 lead in the match. In the second set, Messiah was exceptional on attack, collecting 20 kills on just 31 attempts for a .548 hitting percentage.
 
Looking for the sweep, Messiah jumped out to a 7-1 lead to open the third set. While the Lions trimmed the lead to just three points at 7-4 and later 14-11, it was all Messiah the rest of the way. Penn State Altoona was unable to pull any closer than three points for the rest of the set as Messiah earned the game, 25-17 and the match, 3-0.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons will head to Berea, Ohio this weekend for three matches in the Baldwin Wallace Invitational. The weekend tournament starts with a match against the Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets at 7:30 p.m. on Friday night and will continue on Saturday with matches against North Central at 12:30 p.m. and Nazareth at 2:30 p.m.