DALLAS, Pa. – The No. 12 Messiah Men's Volleyball team was in action on day two of the Cougar Kickoff Classic on Saturday, Feb. 1. The Falcons began by resuming Friday night's match against No. 2 New York University that was postponed due to a power outage. The Bobcats defeated the Falcons 3-1. Messiah then defeated Drew University 3-1. The Falcons finished the weekend with a 3-1 win over No. 17 Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The Falcons are back in action on Tuesday, Feb. 4, when they host the Chargers of Lancaster Bible College at 7:00 p.m. on Jordan Court in Hitchcock Arena.

No. 12 Messiah University Falcons vs No. 2 New York University Violets: Violets 3-1

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 Violets 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 few errors on both sides, Brandon 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. After a power outage Friday night, play resumed Saturday morning with a Violets serve. A block by the Violets and kill by Brandon Sharp brought the score to 23-17 in favor of the Violets. The Falcons scored two with kills by Snyder and Jacob Hamm, but it wasn't enough, and the Violets won 25-19 to go up 2-1.

Brandon Sharp found Todd Snyder to open play in the fourth set. The teams traded point before Tyler McConnell notched two kills and gave the Falcons a 4-3 lead. Two errors from the Violets gave the Falcons a two-point advantage at 6-4, but the score quickly leveled at 7-7 before the back-and-forth continued. Sharp again found McConnell and an error from New York University gave Messiah a 12-10 advantage. The Violets scored three straight to take a 13-12 advantage. Alex Kagoro notched a kill to give a 15-14 lead to the Falcons before New York University scored four straight with three service aces. The Falcons had three straight of their own with an ace by Kagoro and a block by Snyder and Jacob Hamm to cut the deficit to one at 21-20. A kill by McConnell brought the score to 22-21 in favor of the Violets before the Violets scored three to take the set 25-21 and win the match 3-1.

Match Stat Leaders
Tyler McConnell led the Falcons with 17 kills while Alex Kagoro added 10. They each added a service ace. Brandon Sharp dished out 36 assists and collected eight digs while Conner Stauffer had nine digs.

Messiah University Falcons vs Drew University Rangers: Falcons 3-1

Messiah started with a 2-0 lead when Cooper Henseler found Ethan Earhart and the Rangers had an attack error. Drew scored three straight, bringing the score to 4-3 in their favor before Brayden Parks had a kill to level the score. The two teams traded points before the Falcons went on a five point run that included an ace and kill from Conner Stauffer and a kill from Sean Gillespie to put the Falcons up 10-6. The Falcons scored another pair and then went on a four point run to increase their lead to 16-8. Drew scored five straight to cut the deficit to three at 16-13. With the score at 19-16 in favor of the Falcons, Stauffer picked up a pair of kills split by a service ace from parks to go up 22-16. A pair of errors for the Rangers gave the Falcons a 24-17 lead. The Rangers were able to get a kill before Henseler connected with Jake Eby to secure the 25-18 win and go up 1-0 in the match.

Drew jumped to a quick 2-0 lead in set two before committing two errors that leveled the score. Lucas Plumley put the Falcons up 4-3 with a service ace before Cooper Henseler found Jake Eby for the Falcons first kill of the set. The teams traded points until the score was tied at 10-10. Brayden Parks and Conner Stauffer each notched a kill to give the Falcons a two point advantage. A service error by the Rangers and an ace from Parks moved the score to 14-11. The Falcons scored three straight with a kill by Sean Gillespie, ace by Henseler, and block by Ethan Earhart to go up 19-14. Kills by Earhart, Gillespie, and Parks brought the score to 22-18 in favor of the Falcons. Messiah scored three straight with Eby notching a pair of kills, one from Henseler and one from Jonathan Nixon, before a Rangers error secured the 25-20 win for the Falcons.

Messiah took a 5-3 lead in set three with a pair of kills by Ethan Earhart and one each from Sean Gillespie and Brayden Parks. After a few errors on both sides of the net, Cooper Henseler connected with Jake Eby for a kill to give the Falcons an 8-6 lead. Two kills by Gillespie and one from Earhart brought the score to 11-11. Earhart then picked up a block before Parks added a kill and Gillespie and Eby each added a pair to put Messiah up 17-15. Drew took the lead with three straight points. Seth Rajnic tied the score at 19-19. The teams traded points before Drew took the lead 24-22. Eby and Henseler each had kill to tie the score at 24-24 before Drew notched two kills to take the set 26-24.

Play was even to start the fourth set before Cooper Henseler found Jake Eby for a kill followed by a Brayden Parks service ace to take a 6-5 lead. Connor Stauffer notched a kill followed shortly by a kill for Sean Gillespie before Drew took four of the next five points, taking an 11-9 lead. A kill from Stauffer and an error from Drew tied the score at 12-12. Messiah scored three in a row with an error by the Rangers, a kill by Alex Kagoro by Brandon Sharp, and a block by Eby to give the Falcons a 20-15 lead. After a kill by the Rangers, the Falcons again scored three straight with kills by Snyder and Kagoro before a block for Snyder to bring the lead to 23-16. A kill by Brayden Parks put the set away 25-19 and gave the Falcons the 3-1 match win.

Match Stat Leaders
Sean Gillespie led the Falcons with 14 kills. Brayden Parks and Jake Eby each added 11 kills.  Cooper Henseler dished out 38 assists for Messiah. Conner Stauffer led all players with 12 digs while Seth Graybill and Gillespie added 10 each. Parks had three aces from the line while Lucas Plumey and Stauffer each added one.

No. 12 Messiah University Falcons vs No. 17 MIT Beavers: Falcons 3-1

MIT started set one with an ace an a block to take the early 2-0 lead. The teams traded points before kills from Todd Snyder, Alex Kagoro, and Tyler McConnell tied the score 5-5. Seth Graybill found Kagoro for a kill before Brandon Sharp did the same and the Falcons took a 7-6 lead. The Falcons used kills from Ryan Givens, Kagoro and Jacob Hamm to go up 12-11. Sharp found Hamm and McConnell for kills before the Falcons scored three straight behind kills from Hamm and Givens and a block from Givens and Sharp to take a 16-13 lead. MIT scored two before the teams began trading points once again, settling on 19-19. Snyder had a kill that the Beavers countered with a kill of their own. The teams then traded a pair of errors before Graybill found Givens for a kill to go up 23-22. An attack error tied the set at 23-23 before Brandon Sharp and Todd Snyder each notched a kill to take the set 25-23.

The Beavers scored three straight to start the second set before the Falcons responded with kills by Alex Kagoro, Brandon Sharp, and Tyler McConnnell to level the score at 3-3. MIT jumped to an 8-4 lead before a service error gave Messiah a point. MIT continued their momentum with back-to-back kills before Sharp connected with McConnell for a Falcons kill. Alex Kagoro had a solo block that brought the score to 10-7 in favor of the Beavers. An MIT service error followed by a block for Todd Snyder and Jacob Hamm brought the score to 12-9 before MIT scored four straight to extend their lead to 16-9. Messiah added two with a Beavers' service error followed by a Kagoro service ace. The Falcons cut the deficit to three with kills from Ryan Givens and McConnell. After a kill by Hamm, the Beavers had an attack error that cut their lead to two at 23-21. Messiah scored three straight on MIT errors before the Beavers were able to notch two kills to take set two 26-24 and tie the match 1-1.

The Falcons started set three strong with a kill from Brandon Sharp from Tyler McConnell. A service error from MIT and an ace from Alex Kagoro gave the Falcons a 3-2 lead. Sharp then connected with McConnell for back-to-back kills to put the Falcons up 5-3. The Falcons then scored four straight with an ace by McConnell and kill by Kagoro to extend their lead to 10-5. After a Messiah service error, the Falcons again scored four straight, this time with two kills by Kagoro and an ace for Lucas Plumey to go up 14-6. MIT scored six of the next seven points, with a kill by Kagoro splitting the play, to cut the Falcons lead to 15-12. Kills by Todd Snyder and McConnell brought the score to 18-13 before MIT scored three straight. It was then Jacob Hamm and Kagoro with kills before the teams traded kills, bringing the score to 21-18 in favor of Messiah. Kagoro notched two straight kills from Sharp and McConnell to take a 23-18 lead. MIT scored six straight to take a 24-23 lead, their first since an early 2-1 lead. A kill by Kagoro and an error by MIT gave the Falcons a 25-24 lead. After trading points and being notched at 27-27, MIT had a service error followed by an attack error to give Messiah the 29-27 set win, taking the match lead 2-1.

Early play in the fourth set was level before Messiah scored three straight on two MIT errors and a block by Tyler McConnell and Ryan Givens to take a 7-6 lead. Brandon Sharp then connected with McConnell and Alex Kagoro to take a 9-7 lead. A kill and block for Kagoro highlighted a three point run that increased the Falcons lead to 12-9. After two for MIT, Conner Stauffer found Brandon Sharp for the kill to advance the score to 13-11. The teams traded the next six points before MIT scored two straight, tieng the score at 16-16. Messiah then scored seven straight points with a pair of kills by Kagoro and Givens, one from McConnell and two blocks from Sharp and Givens to take a 23-16 lead. MIT scored three straight before Alex Kagoro connected with Tyler McConnell to bring the score to 24-19 in favor of the Falcons. The Beavers looked to make a comeback with four straight points but a service error gave the Falcons the 25-23 win and the 3-1 match win.

Match Stat Leaders
Alex Kagoro led the Falcons with 17 kills while Tyler McConnell added 16, hitting .438. Brandon Sharp dished out 37 assists. Seth Graybill led Messiah with 10 digs while Sharp added nine and Conner Stauffer added eight. Ryan Givens led all players with six blocks with Sharp adding four. Kagoro notched two service aces with Lucas Plumey and McConnell each adding one. Tyler McConnell was named to the All-Tournament team for his performance throughout the weekend.

Up Next
The Falcons are back in action on Tuesday, Feb. 4, when they host the Chargers of Lancaster Bible College at 7:00 p.m. on Jordan Court in Hitchcock Arena.