GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Messiah Men's Volleyball team opened the 2025 campaign on Friday night against the University of Mount Union on the first day of the Messiah Invitational. The Falcons claimed a thrilling five-set victory over the Purple Raiders to begin the 2025 season with a win at home. Alex Kagoro led the Falcons with 30 kills while Brandon Sharp dished out 56 assists.

Up next, the Falcons will continue action on day two of the Messiah Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 18. Messiah will face Baldwin Wallace University at 11:00 p.m. and Nazareth University at 3:00 p.m.

Set One
The action was back-and-forth to start the set before the Falcons went on a five-point run in the middle of the set. The Purple Raiders picked up an opening service ace followed by kills from Alex Kagoro and Jacob Hamm to begin the back-and-forth scoring. With a Mount Union attack error and a kill by Tyler McConnell, the Falcons took a 7-5 lead and never looked back. After a pair of errors from both team, Ryan Givens picked up a service ace followed by a Purple Raiders attack error to bring the score to 11-8. Three consecutive errors by Mount Union forced the Purple Raiders to take a timeout down 14-9.

The offense was more balanced out of the break with Jacob Hamm and Kagoro each picking up a kill. A Mount Union service error brought the score to 20-15 in favor of the Falcons. Brandon Sharp, Givens, Todd Snyder, and Kagoro each rattled off kills to bring the score to 24-17. Three Messiah errors allowed Mount Union to come within four but a service error for the Purple Raiders tipped the first set in favor of the Falcons 25-20.

Set Two
The second set started much the same with the back-and-forth action. The Purple Raiders led 4-2 after six straight errors between the two teams. Alex Kagoro picked up a kill on a feed from Brandon Sharp to make it 4-3. The teams combined for three errors before combining for seven kills to bring the score to 9-8 in favor of Mount Union. The next 14 points were comprised of eight errors and six kills with the score reaching 18-13 in favor of Mount Union, forcing a timeout by Messiah.

Out of the break, Brandon Sharp found Alex Kagoro on back-to-back plays before the Purple Raiders picked up a block to slow the Messiah momentum. Messiah scored three straight behind two kills from Ryan Givens to bring the score to 20-19 in favor of Mount Union, forcing a Purple Raiders timeout. Mount Union increased their lead out of the break before a kill by Kagoro and a setter dump by Brandon Sharp to bring the score to 23-21. The Falcons couldn't put together a string of points and Mount Union took set two with a score of 25-22.

Set Three
In continuing with the theme for the night, scoring was back-and-forth to start the third set. Alex Kagoro continued his offensive attack with the first kill of the set off a feed from Brandon Sharp. The Purple Raiders countered with a kill of their own before a service error on each side of the net notched the score at 2-2. Tyler McConnell and Ryan Givens each picked up a kill before Seth Graybill nabbed a service ace and gave Messiah the 5-4 lead. The Falcons picked up six kills en route to a tied score at 15-15. Kagoro picked up another pair of kills that was followed by a Mount Union kill.

Kagoro and Jacob Hamm added kills before an error by Mount Union brought the score to 20-18 in favor of the Falcons, forcing a Mount Union timeout. Alex Kagoro picked up a service ace out of the break to extend the Messiah lead. A pair of errors by each team brought the score to 23-20. After a Purple Raiders kill, a pair of attack errors gave the Falcons the 25-21 win and the lead in the match two sets to one.

Set Four
In the early points of set four, Alex Kagoro picked up a pair of kills and Todd Snyder added one as the score was tied 3-3. After trading a few errors, Brandon Sharp found Ryan Givens to bring the score to 6-5 in favor of the Falcons. Another Givens kill was followed by a Sean Gillespie service ace to give Messiah a 9-7 lead. Tyler McConnell nabbed a kill to bring the score to 13-11 in favor of the Falcons before the Purple Raiders scored five straight, forcing a Messiah timeout down 16-13.

On the first play back, Brandon Sharp found Ryan Givens to give the Falcons a much-needed momentum shift. A Mount Union kill was followed by two errors and Falcons were back to within one point at 17-16. Kagoro picked up another pair of kills that brought the score to 19-18 in favor of Mount Union. Kills by Kagoro and Jacob Hamm tied the score at 21-21, forcing Mount Union to take a timeout. Mount Union was the first to reach 24 points after a service ace, giving the Purple Raiders a 24-23 lead. The Falcons continued to pick up electric kills to even the score and take a one-point lead before being evened back by Mount Union. The score was tied 28-28 before Messiah had an attack error followed by a Mount Union service ace to give the Purple Raiders the 30-28 win, evening the score at two sets each.

Set Five
After a thrilling four sets of volleyball, the Falcons and the Purple Raiders squared off in set five to determine the winner. Alex Kagoro picked up to early kills before Jacob Hamm tapped one over to give the Falcons a 4-3 lead. After some back-to-back scoring, Kagoro picked up a pair of kills to give the Falcons a 9-6 advantage. Ryan Givens and Kagoro each got a kill followed by a pair of Mount Union kills that saw the score 11-10 in Messiah's favor. A string of errors led to a 14-12 Messiah lead. Following a Mount Union timeout, Brandon Sharp and Ryan Givens combined for a powerful block to give the Falcons the 15-12 victory, claiming the match 3-2.

Stats
Alex Kagoro led all players with 30 kills while Ryan Givens added 16. Brandon Sharp collected 56 assists in the Messiah win. On defense, Brandon Sharp and Tyler McConnell each had 11 digs while Ryan Givens collected five and a half blocks. Four Falcons notched service aces in the match (Graybill, Kagoro, Gillespie, and Givens).

Up Next
The Falcons will continue action on day two of the Messiah Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 18. Messiah will face Baldwin Wallace University at 11:00 p.m. and Nazareth University at 3:00 p.m.