GRANTHAM, Pa – The Messiah men's volleyball team honored their seniors Zac Barbato and Christian Wolf on Wednesday night against the Knights of Arcadia University and pulled out a 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-18) victory. The victory closed out the 2024 home slate. 
 
With the win, the Falcons clinched the third seed in the upcoming MAC Tournament and will head to second-seeded Misericordia next Thursday night for the semifinals, starting at 7:00 p.m.

How It Happened
The Falcons started off hot in the first set, jumping out to a 5-2 lead. The early run was fueled by kills from Jake Eby, Alex Kagoro, and Jacob Hamm. The Knights came right back, going on a 6-2 run to narrow Messiah's lead to 8-7.  As both teams battled back and forth throughout, Messiah was able to hold onto several one-point leads. The Falcons were able to take the first set 25-22 with a massive kill from Jake Eby to close out the opening set.
 
The Knights and Falcons kept the back-and-forth play going in the second set, as it was tied early on at 5-5. Messiah would pull away right after, jumping out to a 10-6 lead topped off by kills from Ryan Givens, Conner Stauffer, and Alex Kagoro. The Falcons kept adding on the pressure, as they jumped out to their first double-digit lead of the contest 20-10. The Knights showed fight late, but Messiah had the upper hand once again, winning the second set 25-16. Through two sets, the Falcons had six different players in the kill column, with a hitting percentage of .420% to the Knights .214%.
 
The Knights would take their first lead of the game in the third set 2-1. Both teams would keep the trend going of keeping things close, as the Falcons had a 13-11 lead midway through the set. Messiah picked up a huge point off a block from Ryan Givens, which called for an Arcadia timeout at 15-11. The Falcons would cap off senior night by defeating the Knights in the third set 25-18 with a kill from senior Christian Wolf.
 
Jacob Hamm led the team in kills with 11, while the trio of Ryan Givens, Jake Eby, and Zac Barbato each finished the night with eight kills. 
 
Brandon Sharp had the team-high in assists with 36. Seven different Falcons would pick up a dig throughout the contest, as Sharp also had the team-high with eight.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons will be back in action for their final regular season match this Saturday as they head to Marymount University with the action kicking off at 3:00 p.m. Following their final regular season match, the Falcons will play in the MAC Tournament Semifinal next Thursday night at Misericordia, starting at 7:00 p.m.