GRANTHAM, Pa. – The No. 9 Messiah Men's Volleyball team picked up a pair of wins on Saturday, Feb. 22, including their first conference victory of the season. The Falcons defeated conference opponent Eastern 3-1 (25-16, 23-25, 25-14., 25-22) and swept Randolph College 3-0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-15). Ryan Givens and Alex Kagoro each had 14 kills against the Eagles while Kagoro and Tyler McConnell each had 11 against the Wildcats.

The Falcons take a trip to Frederick, Md. to take on conference opponent Hood College on Thursday, Feb. 27 at 7:00 p.m.

No. 9 Messiah University Falcons vs Eastern University Eagles
After an early kill by Alex Kagoro, the Falcons scored three straight with kills by Todd Snyder and Ryan Givens split by a Todd Snyder service ace. Givens notched another kill before he and Brandon Sharp combined for a block, giving the Falcons a 6-4 lead. It was again a kill by Givens and block by Givens and Sharp that moved the score to 8-5 in favor of the Falcons. After trading service errors, Tyler McConnell connected with Kagoro before a pair of Eagles' errors, advancing the Messiah lead to 12-7. Todd Snyder and Jacob Hamm each notched a kill as the score moved to 14-10. After back-and-forth points, a kill by Givens and an error for the Eagles brought the lead back to five for Messiah. Messiah scored four straight on a pair of errors by Eastern and back-to-back kills by Kagoro from Sharp and Snyder to give the Falcons a 22-15 lead. The Eagles scored one before Sharp connected with Snyder and the Eagles had an attack error to bring it to match point. Conner Stauffer found Alex Kagoro for the final kill, with Messiah taking set one 25-16.

The Falcons started set two with a pair of kills as Brandon Sharp first found Todd Snyder then Jacob Hamm for a quick 2-0 lead. The Eagles answered with a pair of their own before Alex Kagoro notched a kill and service ace to give the Falcons the two point lead back. This time the Eagles answered with one before Hamm and Tyler McConnell notched kills. An Eastern kill was followed by a kill for Ryan Givens and a solo block by Givens as Messiah extended their lead to 8-4. The teams then traded points before the Falcons scored five straight in the middle of the set. Jacob Hamm notched a kill and Alex Kagoro had a service ace in the midst of Eastern errors as the score moved to 16-8 in favor of the Falcons. McConnell and Givens each picked up kills before the Eagles scored four to cut the Messiah lead to two at 18-16. Two kills by Givens weren't enough as the Eagles tied the match 20-20, and the Falcons called a timeout. The Falcons scored two with a kill by Kagoro and a block from Todd Snyder but the Eagles took the lead, scoring the next three. An Eagles' error notched the score at 23-23 before a pair of points for Eastern gave them the 25-23 set win, tying the match at 1-1.

Messiah started set three off on a hot streak of 9-1, claiming the first six points. Alex Kagoro had a pair of kills in the first six, while Jacob Hamm and Todd Snyder added a block. Hamm and Snyder combined on back-to-back plays, first with a block, then with a kill by Hamm from Snyder to bring the score to 9-1 in favor of the Falcons. McConnell notched a kill before Hamm and Ryan Givens combined for a block followed by a block for Brandon Sharp and Givens. Givens then notched a kill before a McConnell ace made it 15-6 in favor of the Falcons. The Falcons extended their lead to 21-11 with kills by Snyder and McConnell and an error by the Eagles. Tyler McConnell added another pair of kills before Brandon Sharp found Jake Eby for set point, 25-14, giving the Falcons a 2-1 advantage in the match.

Set four started with an error for the Eagles and a kill for Alex Kagoro before the Falcons scored four. The run started with a kill by Todd Snyder that was followed with a kill for Jacob Hamm and an ace for Kagoro. The Falcons extended the lead to 8-3 when Brandon Sharp connected with Kagoro for a kill. Messiah maintained their lead as Sharp found Ryan Givens for the kill before another four-point run for the Falcons. The run was highlighted by a pair of kills for Kagoro and a service ace by Brandon Sharp. After trading play, the Eagles brought the score within one as the Falcons held an 18-17 advantage. Givens picked up a kill before the Eagles tied the score 20-20 as they did in set two. Messiah picked up a block by Snyder and Kagoro followed by a block for Snyder and McConnell to take a 23-21 lead. After trading service errors, Todd Snyder picked up an ace to take set four 25-22 and give Messiah the 3-1 victory to open conference play.

Match One Stats
Ryan Givens and Alex Kagoro led the Falcons with 14 kills while Tyler McConnell added seven. Givens and Todd Snyder each had five blocks. Brandon Sharp led Messiah with 42 assists and 10 digs. Kagoro added three aces with Snyder adding two.

No. 9 Messiah University Falcons vs Randolph College Wildcats
The score was tied 3-3 after a kill by Alex Kagoro and a pair by Todd Snyder. After a pair of points for the Wildcats, Brandon Sharp connected with Tyler McConnell on three straight points for three kills. Ryan Givens and Kagoro added kills as Messiah took a 9-7 lead. Kills by Alex Kagoro and Jacob Hamm highlighted a three point run that extended the Falcons lead to 12-9. Kagoro picked up an ace and kill before McConnell added a pair of kills to take a 17-12 lead. A successful setter dump for Sharp gave the Falcons an 18-13 lead before the Falcons scored six straight to end the set. In the run, Kagoro and Hamm collected kills while Hamm and Snyder combined for a block. The Falcons took set one 25-15.

Tyler McConnell found Alex Kagoro for the first point of set two. The teams then traded points before Kagoro returned the favor with a set for McConnell that was followed by a kill for McConnell from Brandon Sharp. A pair of errors for the Wildcats and a kill by Todd Snyder gave the Falcons a 9-6 lead. After once again trading points, Messiah scored four straight with kills from Jacob Hamm, Kagoro, and Ryan Givens to take a 16-11 lead. The advantage grew with kills by McConnell and Kagoro extending the lead to 19-12. The Falcons again scored three with a kill for Sharp and an ace for Givens. Sharp connected with Snyder on back-to-back sets to bring the score to 24-15 in favor of Messiah. A service error on each side of the net ended the set 25-16 in favor of Messiah, taking a 2-0 lead in the match.

In what would be the final set of the day, Messiah opened with a 12-2 run behind strong performances across the court. A kill by Alex Kagoro opened the set before a pair of kills by Jacob Hamm. Todd Snyder added a kill before Snyder and Hamm combined for a block as the Falcons went up 7-0. A pair of kills by Hamm and one for Brayden Parks gave Messiah a 10-1 lead. Tyler McConnell notched a kill before Todd Snyder served an ace as the Falcons advantage grew to 12-2. The Wildcats scored a pair before Ryan Givens notched his first kill of the set, followed by an assist by Givens on the kill for McConnell. Alex Kagoro notched a kill to bring the score to 16-7. Jake Eby notched a pair of kills before Sean Gillespie connected with McConnell for the kill and a 19-9 Falcons lead. The teams traded points for the remainder of the match and the Falcons remained on top for the sweep. Ethan Earhart picked up a kill before Jonathan Nixon connected with Seth Rajnic for two. The set ended when Nixon found Gillespie for the final point, giving the Falcons the 25-15 set win and the 3-0 match win.

Match Two Stats
Alex Kagoro and Tyler McConnell led the Falcons with 11 kills while Todd Snyder added eight. Brandon Sharp had 35 assists with seven digs. Conner Stauffer led the Falcons with nine digs. Jacob Hamm and Todd Snyder each had a pair of blocks.

Up Next
The Falcons take a trip to Frederick, Md. to take on conference opponent Hood College on Thursday, Feb. 27 at 7:00 p.m.