BEREA, Ohio - After an exciting five-set victory over No. 19 Baldwin Wallace, the Messiah men's volleyball team had a quick turnaround with a pair of top-10 opponents on the schedule for Saturday afternoon. The Falcons' Saturday started with a tightly contested match against No. 10 North Central. While the Falcons kept things close in every set, North Central pulled off the 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-21) sweep. In the nightcap, Messiah disposed of No. 9 Nazareth in straight sets by a 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-22) final. In that second match against the Nazareth Golden Flyers, Messiah hit .434 as a team to earn their seventh victory of the season.
 
In the two matches on Saturday, Ryan Givens collected 24 kills and a .512 hitting percentage across the two matches.
 
Messiah will be back in action on Tuesday when they travel to St. Davids, Pa. to take on the Eastern Eagles at 7:00 p.m. for their first conference match of the year.
 
No. 10 North Central defeats Messiah – 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-21)
The Falcons opened their day against the North Central Cardinals. While all three sets played were closely contested, it was the Cardinals who finished on top in each to earn the sweep. Messiah was slightly outhit in the match, .120-.187, but strong offensive performances were turned in by Ryan Givens (11 kills, .364%) and Jake Eby (nine kills, .429%). Givens' 11 kills were a match high while Eby added a pair of service aces as well.
 
Noah Aurdos and Brandon Sharp shared the setting duties, dishing out 14 and 13 assists, respectively.
 
Looking at the box score it was a relatively even match across the board, but a few too many Messiah errors gave the slight edge to the Cardinals.
 
Messiah defeats No. 9 Nazareth – 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-22)
In the nightcap, it was the Falcons finishing on the right side of a closely contested match. All three sets were decided by four points or less, but it was Messiah earning the sweep of No. 9 Nazareth. Messiah was stellar on attack, hitting at a .434 clip as a team in the match. On the other side of the net, the Golden Flyers were held to a .174 hitting percentage by the Falcons' defense.
 
The Falcons were far more aggressive from the service line than they had been in their previous two Ohio matches this week, committing 19 service errors. The hard serves created opportunities for the Falcons ton convert while Nazareth was out of system. The result was plenty of offensive opportunities for the Falcons. Ryan Givens and Jacob Hamm each finished with a match-high 13 kills while hitting at .684% and .435%, respectively.
 
Alex Kagoro joined the duo with double-digit kills while also picking up three service aces.
 
The loss for the Golden Flyers was just their second setback of the season, while the Falcons moved to 7-5 on the year with the victory.
 
What's Up Next
Messiah will be back in action on Tuesday night when they travel to Eastern University for a conference match at 7:00 p.m. Tuesday's match will kick off Middle Atlantic Conference play for the Falcons.