ASHLAND, Va. – The No. 15 Messiah Men's Volleyball team was in action on Friday night for Macon Invitational against the University of Lynchburg and Randolph Macon. The Falcons began their night with a 3-0 sweep over the Hornets, with set scores of 25-17, 25-21, and 25-16. Messiah finished strong with a 3-1 win over the Randolph-Macon Yellow Jackets with set scores of 22-25, 25-14, 25-20, and 25-22. Alex Kagoro led the Falcons on the day with 18 kills, two aces, and nine digs. Tyler McConnell finished the day with 17 kills, three aces, and 14 digs.

The Falcons are next in action on Friday, Jan. 31, when they travel to Dallas, Pa. for the Misericordia Tournament. Messiah will begin their weekend against Nichols College at 6:00 p.m. and New York University at 8:00 p.m. on Friday night before playing Drew University at 11:0 a.m. and Massachusetts Institute of Technology at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.

Match One
The Falcons claimed the first set of the day with a 25-17 final score. Brandon Sharp started the day with a service ace to give the Falcons a quick 1-0 lead before the Hornets jumped to a 4-2 lead. After a trade in service errors, Ryan Givens secured a kill, and Givens and Brandon Sharp had a block. After a Hornets point, Messiah scored seven straight to bring the score to 11-6 that included three kills by Ryan Givens. A few plays later, Todd Snyder, Alex Kagoro and Jacob Hamm each had a kill that brought the score to 17-9. Jake Eby and Tyler McConnell extended the lead with a kill each before the Hornets scored three straight. Jacob Hamm scored the Falcons final kill of the match, with their last two points coming from Lynchburg errors and the Falcons claimed the set 25-17.

The second set started with back-and-forth errors before Brandon Sharp found Brayden Parks for the first kill of the set. Todd Snyder added a kill, and Brayden Parks added a pair to put the Falcons up 8-5. The Falcons extended the lead to 12-6 behind kills from Tyler McConnell, Sharp, and Sean Gillespie. After a few service errors between the two teams, the Falcons found themselves with a 22-17 lead after a kill by Brayden Parks. Todd Snyder and Tyler McConnell each picked up a kill before Lynchburg claimed three points. Brandon Sharp found Todd Snyder to secure the 25-21 set win.

Todd Snyder picked up an early kill and service ace in the third set as the Falcons took a 5-4 lead. After a Tyler McConnell kill and a Lynchburg kill, McConnell and Jake Eby each claimed a kill to extend the the Falcons lead to 9-5. With the score at 10-7 in favor of the Falcons, Messiah went on a seven-point run that included an ace for Brandon Sharp, kills by Tyler McConnell and Sean Gillespie and a block by Brayden Parks and Todd Snyder, that extended their lead to 17-7. Cooper Henseler found Gillespie, Ethan Espenshade, and Jake Eby for kills an Lucas Plumey and Eby picked up a block before two service errors for Lynchburg gave Messiah the 25-16 set win and the 3-0 match win.

Match One Stats
Todd Snyder led the Falcons with seven kills while Tyler McConnell added six and Brayden Park had five. Brandon Sharp dished out 28 assists and Cooper Henseler added four in his debut. Brandon Sharp collected two aces for the Falcons while McConnell and Tood Snyder each added one. McConnell led the Falcons with 11 digs with Conner Stauffer adding six. Todd Snyder had four blocks.

Match Two
Brandon Sharp found Alex Kagoro for an early kill before Randolph-Macon scored three straight. Tyler McConnell found a kill off a set from Sharp before Jacob Hamm and Ryan Givens blocked a Randolph Macon attack. A service error from the Yellow Jackets and a service ace by Tyler McConnell brought the score to 8-6 in favor of Randolph-Macon. After a Falcons timeout, Todd Snyder made a solo block and grabbed a kill to bring the score to 13-10 in favor of the Yellow Jackets. The Yellow Jackets continued to grow their lead before a pair of kills from McConnell brought the score to 18-13 with the Falcons still down. Messiah looked to cut the deficit and a kill by Alex Kagoro followed by a kill by Brandon Sharp kept the Yellow Jackets lead at five, with a score of 21-16. Three straight points by Messiah forced a Randolph-Macon timeout at 22-19 and the Falcons cut the deficit to two before the Yellow Jackets brought the score to 24-20. Brandon Sharp found Alex Kagoro and Jacob Hamm before the Yellow Jackets earned the kill to finish the first set 25-22.

Messiah jumped to a 9-4 lead in set two behind kills from Jacob Hamm, Tyler McConnell, and Alex Kagoro and a service ace by McConnell. Amid a slew of Randolph-Macon errors, Ryan Givens and Jacob Hamm each secured a kill, and Todd Snyder earned a service ace to bring the lead to 15-9. Brandon Sharp snagged a solo block and found Alex Kagoro for a kill to advance the score to 19-9 in favor of the Falcons. Givens and McConnell each added a kill before a pair from Kagoro to bring the score to 23-12. Brandon Sharp found Kagoro once more before Givens found Todd Snyder for the set point, giving the Falcons a 25-14 win and tying the match at 1-1.

After the Yellow Jackets started 3-0 in the third set, Brandon Sharp found Jacob Hamm to get the Falcons on the board. Randolph-Macon scored another three to extend their lead to 6-1. Tyler McConnell, Ryan Givens, and Hamm each found a kill to cut the deficit to two at 7-5. A kill by Givens, block by Alex Kagoro and error by the Yellow Jackets brought the score to 9-9. The Falcons took their first lead of the set, 12-11, with an ace by Alex Kagoro and never looked back. The Falcons secured a pair of kills by Givens, a pair by Kagoro, and one from Brandon Sharp as they extended the lead to 22-17, forcing a Randolph-Macon timeout. Tyler McConnell found himself a kill to bring the score to 24-19 before Brandon Sharp found Ryan Givens to secure the 25-20 set score and to go up 2-1 in the match.

In what would be the final set of the night, Randolph-Macon again started as the stronger team, taking a 4-1 lead. Messiah tied the score with a pair of kills by Kagoro and one from Jacob Hamm. Play continued back-and-forth with the Yellow Jackets taking a 10-7 lead. Messiah continued to chip away points and after a number of errors by Randolph-Macon, Todd Snyder secured a kill and Alex Kagoro scored on a service ace to give the Falcons a 15-12 lead. Todd Snyder and Ryan Givens each earned a kill while McConnell scored a pair as the score moved to 19-16. The Yellow Jackets battled back and tied the score at 21 all. A pair of kills by Jacob Hamm and a pair of Randolph-Macon errors brought the set to match point. Brandon Sharp found Tyler McConnell for the 25-22 set win and the 3-1 match win for Messiah.

Match Two Stats
Alex Kagoro led the Falcons with 18 kills while Tyler McConnell added 11 and Ryan Givens added 10. Brandon Sharp dished out 46 assists for the Falcons. Todd Snyder, Kagoro, and McConnell each added a pair of service aces. Conner Stauffer led the Falcons with 10 digs and Alex Kagoro added nine. Snyder had 2.5 blocks and Kagoro and Sharp each added 2.

Up Next
The Falcons are next in action on Friday, Jan. 31, when they travel to Dallas, Pa. for the Misericordia Tournament. Messiah will begin their weekend against Nichols College at 6:00 p.m. and New York University at 8:00 p.m. on Friday night before playing Drew University at 11:0 a.m. and Massachusetts Institute of Technology at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.