HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The No. 11 Messiah Men's Volleyball team took down the No. 4 Juniata College Eagles on Friday night in a five-set battle of the birds. The Eagles claimed set one, 25-18 before the Falcons claimed the next two, 25-23 and 27-25. Juniata claimed a dominant 25-10 win in set four before Messiah claimed set five 15-13. Alex Kagoro led all players with 17 kills with Todd Snyder, Tyler McConnell, and Ryan Givens each adding seven.

The Falcons are next in action on Thursday, Feb. 13, when they travel to Penn State Altoona to take on the Lions at 7:00 p.m.

The Battle Begins
Juniata jumped to a 5-2 lead before Brandon Sharp connected with Jacob Hamm for a kill and Hamm and Ryan Givens combined for a block, tying the score at 5-5. Givens and Tyler McConnell each had kills in the midst of a flurry of Eagles points as the score moved to 12-11 in favor of Juniata. The Eagles then scored four straight to increase their lead to 16-11. The teams traded a number of errors before Sharp found Alex Kagoro on back-to-back kills to bring the score to 21-17 in favor of Juniata. Juniata used four kills, including three straight to end the match and earn the 25-18 win.

After the Eagles went up 2-0, Brandon Sharp connected with Todd Snyder for the Falcons first point of the set. Juniata then scored three straight before a service error and attack error cut their lead to 5-3. A Ryan Givens kill followed by two Eagles' errors tied the score at 6-6. A Givens kill and a pair for Kagoro kept the scored notched at 10-10. Messiah took a 13-11 lead after a pair of errors by Juniata and a block by Tyler McConnell. After three service errors in a row, Juniata tied the score at 14-14 with a block. Jacob Hamm and Alex Kagoro each earned a kill and Brayden Parks picked up a service ace as the Falcons took an 18-16 lead. Messiah held a 21-20 advantage before Sharp connected with Hamm for a kill and Snyder had a service ace to take the lead to 23-20. The Eagles strung three together to tie the set 23-23 before a Ryan Givens kill and Brayden Parks ace gave the Falcons the 25-23 set win and tied the match at 1-1.

After back-and-forth play to start set three, a kill by Alex Kagoro and an error by the Eagles gave Messiah a 10-7 advantage. Brandon Sharp was able to connect with Todd Snyder before Kagoro set Jacob Hamm for the kill and Messiah took a 13-10 lead. A string of three service errors was followed by a pair of Kagoro kills split by a Juniata kill as the score moved to 16-13. The teams traded points before the Eagles scored five straight to take a 19-18 lead, their first since 3-2. Messiah earned three straight on a Tyler McConnell kill and pair of errors for Juniata to take the lead back 21-19. Juniata took a 23-22 lead before Sharp connected with McConnell to tie the score at 23-23. Kills by Kagoro and Snyder had the set tied at 25-25 before Kagoro picked up a kill and Snyder picked up a solo block to take the set 27-25 and take a 2-1 lead in the match.

The teams again traded points to start the fourth set with Brandon Sharp connecting with Todd Snyder and Alex Kagoro for kills to tie the set 7-7. Juniata took the lead with four straight before Snyder notched his second kill of the set, bringing the score to 11-8 in favor of the Eagles. The Eagles then scored five straight before a service error, extending their lead to 16-9. They scored three straight before Sharp connected with Ryan Givens for a kill. Juniata scored six straight to take set four 25-10 and force a fifth set to decide the match winner.

Final Battle
A kill for Tyler McConnell from Brandon Sharp tied set five at 3-3. The Falcons took their first lead at 5-4 after a block by Jacob Hamm and Ryan Givens. Givens and Alex Kagoro each picked up a kill as Messiah took an 8-6 lead. The Falcons continued to hold a two-point lead as the teams traded points. Kagoro picked up a solo block and Todd Snyder had a kill as the score moved to 11-9. Snyder followed up his kill with a solo block to give Messiah the first three point lead of the set at 12-9. After a kill from Juniata, Sharp connected with Tyler McConnell before the Eagles added two points and cut the Messiah lead to 13-12. A kill from McConnell was followed by a kill from Juniata before Sharp connected with Givens for the set point and the 15-13 set victory.

Match Stats
Alex Kagoro led all players with 17 kills. He added seven digs, one assist, and one solo block to his stats. Todd Snyder hit .462 with seven kills, a service ace, and two solo blocks. Tyler McConnell and Ryan Givens each added seven kills with McConnell adding a solo block and Givens adding two block assists. Conner Stauffer led the Falcons with 10 digs and added an assist. Brayden Parks had two service aces from line.

Up Next
The Falcons are next in action on Thursday, Feb. 13, when they travel to Penn State Altoona to take on the Lions at 7:00 p.m.