DALLAS, Pa. – On Friday, Jan. 31, the No. 12 Messiah Men's Volleyball team traveled to Misericordia University to compete at the Cougar Kickoff Classic. The Falcons defeated the Nichols College Bison 3-0 to open the weekend. Messiah was tied 1-1 and in the third set against New York University when a power outage caused the remainder of the match to be postponed to Saturday, Feb. 1 at 10:00 a.m.

The Falcons are next in action on Saturday, Feb. 1, for day two of the Cougar Kickoff Classic. Messiah will resume play against New York University at 10:00 a.m. The Falcons will face Drew University at 12:00 p.m. and Massachusetts Institute of Technology at 2:00 p.m.

Match One
The Falcons started their weekend with a sweep over Nichols College with set scores of 25-16, 25-17, and 25-22. Messiah started set one with a kill by Alex Kagoro followed by a solo block for Kagoro. The Falcons and Bison traded points before the Falcons went on back-to-back three-point runs, split by a Bison kill. Jacob Hamm, McConnell, and Ryan Givens each earned a kill in the stretch as Messiah went up 11-5. Messiah strung together another series of points behind a kill by Givens, ace by Sean Gillespie, and a kill by Brandon Sharp to extend their lead to 15-7. Sharp found Todd Snyder for two kills and McConnell for one to put the Falcons up 20-11. Three errors by the Bison grew the lead to 23-12 before the Bison earned three straight. Givens and Kagoro each added a kill to secure the set 25-16.

The second set started with the two teams trading errors before Brandon Sharp found Jacob Hamm for a kill that was followed by a block for Sharp and Ryan Givens. Messiah scored their next four points on Nichols' errors before Sean Gillespie picked up his second service ace of the match. Nichols tied the score 10-10 with a couple of Messiah errors. Points traded back-and-forth; landing tied 12-12. Tyler McConnell picked up three kills, with Ryan Givens adding a block then kill to give the Falcons an 18-15 lead. After a Nichols' kill, Messiah scored six straight, including a block by Todd Snyder and Sharp, two solo blocks for Snyder and a kill to go up 24-16. Each team had a service error to finish the set 25-17 in favor of the Falcons.

Todd Snyder scored the first point of set three with a kill from Brandon Sharp before a string of errors set the score at 5-3 in favor of the Bison. Ryan Givens, Tyler McConnell, and Alex Kagoro each claimed a kill to take the Falcons first lead since the opening point at 7-6. The two teams traded points before the Falcons strung three together with a kill from Kagoro and block by McConnell to reclaim the lead 13-11. Nichols tied the score with a pair of points before the Falcons had a kill by Jacob Hamm and Bison error to take back the two point lead. Nichols once again tied the score, this time at 15-15 before the two teams alternated the next 10 points until the score was 20-20. Messiah took the advantage with a kill by Givens and error from Nichols. After giving up one point, the Falcons used a service error from Nichols and kill by Kagoro to take a three-point lead. Sharp found Kagoro for the final point to claim the 25-22 set victory and 3-0 match sweep.

Match One Stats
Alex Kagoro led the Falcons with 11 kills. Tyler McConnell added nine kills and 11 digs. Conner Stauffer added nine digs while Brandon Sharp had seven digs and dished out 31 assists. Sean Gillespie had two service aces from the line. Todd Snyder led the Falcons with four blocks while Ryan Givens and Sharp each added two.

Match Two
Messiah once again started set one with a kill from Alex Kagoro to put the Falcons on the board. After a pair of kills by the Violets, Brandon Sharp found Todd Snyder to even the score at 2-2.  The Falcons and Violets were evenly matched, with the teams trading points for much of the match. Tyler McConnell and Ryan Givens added kills for the Falcons before New York University scored four straight to force a Falcons timeout. Todd Snyder claimed a kill after the timeout but another four-point run forced a second Messiah timeout with the score at 14-7. Kagoro and McConnell gave the Falcons two points on kills that knocked the deficit to six. After trading points, Jacob Hamm and McConnell got back-to-back kills, and the Bobcats took a timeout with a lead of 20-16. A series of errors and kills on both sides of the net led to a 23-20 game. The Falcons picked up another point on a Violets error but dropped the set 25-21.

After the Violets started set two with a service error, Todd Snyder and Tyler McConnell each had kills that gave the Falcons a 3-2 lead. After a number of errors on both sides, Brandfon Sharp found Alex Kagoro to bring the score to 7-7. Kagoro and Jacob Hamm added kills for the Falcons before McConnell added three that gave Messiah a 13-12 lead. Kagoro and McConnell each found another kill as the score moved to 16-15 in favor of New York University. After a string of errors on both sides, Tyler McConnell responded to a Violets kill with a kill of his own, bringing the score to 18-18. McConnell then picked up a solo block that led to New York University calling a timeout. Sharp found McConnell after the timeout to take the Falcons first two-point lead since 4-2. The Violets quickly answered with two of their own to bring it back to level at 20-20. Three straight errors by New York University forced a second Violets timeout as the Falcons took a 23-20 lead. New York University secured a kill out of the timeout but a kill by Ryan Givens gave the Falcons the 25-22 win to level the match at one set a piece.

The Falcons and Violets continued to battle in set three as the two teams traded points to begin the set. Todd Snyder had the first kill for the Falcons before Brandon Sharp found Tyler McConnell for two straight kills. The score was tied 5-5 before McConnell served an ace. New York University took an 11-8 lead before two errors cut their lead to one. Another three-point run forced a Messiah timeout at 14-10. The Violets continued their attack after the break and the Falcons took a second timeout when trailing 17-11. The teams combined for six errors before Sharp found Givens for a kill to bring the score to 20-15 in favor of the Violets. A service error for each team was followed by a kill for the Violets to bring the score to 22-16. The second power outage of the night led to the postponement of the remainder of the evenings matches. The match will resume at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 1.

Up Next
The Falcons will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 1, for day two of the Cougar Kickoff Classic. Messiah will resume play against New York University at 10:00 a.m. The Falcons will face Drew University at 12:00 p.m. and Massachusetts Institute of Technology at 2:00 p.m.