ST. DAVID, PA. - The Messiah men's volleyball team traveled to Eastern University for their first MAC opponent of the season. The Falcons went to St. Davids Pennsylvania and took down the Eagles in four Sets 4-1 (25-23, 24-26, 25-13, 25-18) to improve to 8-5 overall and 1-0 in MAC play. The Falcons had three players in double-digit kills, Jacob Hamm (14), Alex Kagoro (13), and Ryan Givens (12). Brandon Sharp finished the night with 27 assists and right behind him was teammate Noah Aurdos with 26.
The Falcons will be on the road for game one of the Eastern Mennonite Tournament against Southern Virginia University.
Set One
Both teams came out of the gates firing on all cylinders. Through the first 10 points of the game, the Falcons and the Eagles were knotted at 10-10 thanks to kills from Alex Kagoro, Sean Gillespie, Ryan Givens, and Jake Eby. Despite not getting a kill over the next eight points the Falcons only found themselves trailing 18-14. However, Messiah continued to chip away taking advantage of a couple of Eastern Errors and getting kills from Kagoro, Conner Stauffer, and Jacob Hamm to Falcons cut the deficit to 21-20. Despite being down for the majority of the set the Falcons found a way to sneak one past the Eagles 25-23 with Givens securing two kills in the final stretch.
Set Two
Set Two had a similar beginning to the first set with neither team giving much ground tied up at 5-5. The Falcons continued to be in lockstep with the Eagles trading points back in forth including scoring three straight points from a Hamm kill and two Eagle errors to tie the set at 11-11. Both teams continued to battle through the next 12 points splitting it at 6-6 a piece, knotted at 17-17. However, the Eagles would go on a 3-0 run to take a 20-17 advantage, the largest lead from either team. The Falcons however took a 7-2 run down the stretch to recapture a 24-22 lead, setting up match point. Unfortunately, Messiah was unable to close it out as the Eagles scored the final four points to tie the set at 1-1.
Set Three
The Falcons determined to shift the momentum in their favor opened up set three taking a quick 8-3 lead. Kagoro, Givens, and Gillespie all contributed points during the stretch. The Eagles did not go away lightly despite giving up three kills to Hamm over the next seven points trailing 15-8 at the midway point. However, a 7-3 run from the Falcons completely shifted the set in Messiah's favor opening up a 22-12 lead. The Eagles would not have another run in them as Hamm and Gillespie finished off the set for the Falcons taking set three 25-13.
Set Four
The momentum was in the Falcons' favor heading into set four and they proved so taking hold of a 10-5 lead early on. Eastern could not get anything going offensively with Messiah stiffening up on defense the Falcons extended their lead to 20-9 over a 11-4 run. Messiah took advantage of five Eagle errors during the run. Eastern had one last run in them to cut the deficit to 24-18 however, Givens would finish the job with the final kill of the set giving the Falcons the 3-1 match victory.
What's Up Next
The Falcons will head to the Eastern Mennonite tournament over the weekend. In game one Messiah will take on Southern Virginia University Friday, Feb 23rd at 6:00 p.m.
