GRANTHAM, Pa. – The No. 8 Messiah Men's Volleyball team hosted the No. 17 Misericordia Cougars on Wednesday night. The Falcons earned the sweep in the regular season home finale with set scores of 25-18 across the board. Alex Kagoro and Tyler McConnell each tallied 12 kills while Brandon Sharp dished out 31 assists. Ryan Givens had four service aces while McConnell added three.

The Falcons return to action on Saturday, March 29, when they travel to Glenside, Pa. to close out regular season conference play against Arcadia University at 1:00 p.m.

Set One
Misericordia jumped to a 2-0 lead with a kill and a block before a service error put the Falcons on the board. The Cougars picked up another block before Brandon Sharp found Todd Snyder for the Falcons first kill. The teams traded points before back-to-back kills for Tyler McConnell and a kill for Jacob Hamm gave Messiah their first lead at 6-5. The Cougars regained the lead at 8-7 before Messiah scored five straight. McConnell and Ryan Givens picked up a block before three straight service aces for McConnell and a kill for Alex Kagoro to give the Falcons a 12-8 lead, forcing a Misericordia timeout. The Cougars cut the deficit to one at 14-13 before the Falcons scored four on an ace for Kagoro and a kill for Hamm with a pair of errors for Misericordia. The Cougars notched a kill before a service error and solo block for Ryan Givens forced Misericordia to take their second timeout with Messiah leading 20-14. The teams traded the next six points with McConnell and Givens picking up kills before the Falcons took a 24-17 lead with a service ace for Ryan Givens. The Cougars notched a kill before a service error ended the set 25-18 in favor of the Falcons.

Set Two
Messiah jumped to an early 5-2 lead behind kills from Ryan Givens and Tyler McConnell and a service ace for Givens. Brandon Sharp connected with Alex Kagoro before a pair of errors was followed with a kill for Tyler McConnell from Kagoro to give the Falcons a 9-4 lead. The teams traded points before McConnell notched a kill and McConnell and Givens combined for a block, forcing Misericordia to take a timeout. Out of the break, Sharp connected with McConnell then Givens to extend the Messiah lead to 14-6. The Falcons took a 17-10 lead as the teams traded the next seven points with a kill from Alex Kagoro. Messiah scored the next three with a kill by Jacob Hamm and a block from Hamm and Todd Snyder, bringing the score to 20-10 in favor of Messiah. The Cougars out together a five point run before a service error cut their run with the score 21-15 in favor of Messiah. The teams traded points through the end of the set with Jacob Hamm and Tyler McConnell picking up kills before Brandon Sharp connected with Alex Kagoro for set point 25-18, lto give Messiah the 2-0 match lead.

Set Three
Misericordia took a 2-0 lead as they did in set one before Messiah scored four straight will a Cougars error and three straight kills for Alex Kagoro. After an error, Brandon Sharp connected with Kagoro for a pair of kills before Ryan Givens notched a service ace to bring the Messiah lead to 7-4. The teams traded the next four before Kagoro and Jacob Hamm notched kills to extend the lead to 11-6. After a service error for the Cougars and an ace for Seth Graybill, Messiah took a 13-7 lead, causing a Misericordia timeout. The teams then traded five with McConnell and Brandon Sharp grabbing kills before a pair of Cougars errors was split by a kill from Jacob Hamm, taking an 18-11 lead. Tyler McConnell notched a kill before Lucas Plumey had a service ace, bringing the Messiah advantage to 21-12. The Cougars scored four of the next five, cutting the deficit to 22-16. Brandon Sharp connected with Ryan Givens before Tyler McConnell connected with Alex Kagoro to bring the score to 24-16 in favor of Messiah. After a pair of points for the Cougars, a service error gave the Falcons set point at 25-18, earning the 3-0 sweep to end regular season conference play.

Stats
Alex Kagoro and Tyler McConnell each tallied 12 kills while Brandon Sharp dished out 31 assists. Ryan Givens had four service aces while McConnell added three. McConnell and Givens each had a pair of blocks while Conner Stauffer led the Falcons with nine digs.

Up Next
The Falcons return to action on Saturday, March 29, when they travel to Glenside, Pa. to close out regular season conference play against Arcadia University at 1:00 p.m.