GRANTHAM, Pa. – The No. 9 Messiah Men's Volleyball team hosted the Stevenson University Mustangs for a Wednesday night conference contest on Jordan Court in Hitchcock Arena. The Falcons earned the 3-1 win after set scores of 25-18, 26-24, 25-20, and 25-18. Alex Kagoro led the Falcons with 23 kills and Brandon Sharp added 50 assists.

The Falcons return to action when they travel to King's College on Saturday, March 8, for a game at 12:00 p.m.

First Set
The Falcons started on a 3-0 run with an error by the Mustangs, a kill for Todd Snyder and a block for Snyder and Jacob Hamm. Brandon Sharp connected with Hamm for the kill before an error for Stevenson brought the score to 5-2 in favor of Messiah. The Falcons scored three straight with a kill by Ryan Givens, an ace for Brayden Parks, and a block by Brandon Sharp made it 9-5. A point for the Mustangs was followed with a kill for Sharp from Conner Stauffer before a Stevenson timeout. Tyler McConnell then notched a service ace to bring the score to 11-5. The Mustangs scored a pair before three straight hitting errors gave the Falcons a 16-8 advantage. A block for Snyder and Hamm caused the Mustangs to take their second timeout. Stevenson scored three before the Falcons notched kills by Alex Kagoro, Tyler McConnell, and Jacob Hamm brought the score to 20-11 in favor of Messiah. After a pair by the Mustangs, McConnell picked up a kill before a block by Givens and Hamm and a Mustangs error brought the Messiah lead to 23-13. Sharp connected with Givens to bring it to set point at 24-14 before four straight for Stevenson. A service error for the Mustangs gave Messiah the 25-18 set win.

Second Set
The Mustangs started set two strong with three straight points before Brandon Sharp connected with Jacob Hamm for the Falcons first kill. A service error for Stevenson and an ace for Todd Snyder cut the deficit to one with the Mustangs holding a 4-3 lead. A kill by Tyler McConnell brought the score to 5-4 in favor of the Mustangs before Stevenson scored five of the next six points to take a 10-5 lead and force a Falcons timeout. Sharp found Kagoro out of the timeout for a kill before the Mustangs notched a kill of their own. Kagoro then notched a pair of kills from Sharp split with a kill by Todd Snyder to cut the deficit to two with the Mustangs leading 11-9. The Mustangs extended their lead to four before Hamm and Givens added kills. A service error by the Mustangs followed by a kill for Alex Kagoro from Brandon Sharp brought the score to 16-14 in favor of Stevenson before the Mustangs called a timeout. The teams traded points through the end of the set with Kagoro, Snyder, and McConnell picking up a pair of kills and givens adding one as the score was 23-22 in favor of the Mustangs. Stevenson took the 24-22 lead before a pair of Kagoro kills from Sharp tied the score 24-24. The Mustangs scored a pair of their own to take set two 26-24 and tie the match 1-1.

Third Set
The third set was off to an even start as Brandon Sharp connected with Alex Kagoro and Tyler McConnell found Jacob Hamm for a kill before Hamm and Kagoro each added another kill to take a 4-3 lead. The teams continued to trade points with Ryan Givens notching a kill before Sharp connected with McConnell and Brayden Parks connected with McConnell to give the Falcons an 8-6 lead. A kill for the Mustangs was followed by a kill for Givens and an error for Stevenson as the lead grew to 10-7. The teams traded the next points as Kagoro added a pair of kills before Sharp connected with Todd Snyder to take a 14-10 lead before a service ace for Kagoro extended the lead to five. A kill by Snyder was followed with two Mustangs points before an error for Stevenson put the ball back in the favor of Messiah with a 17-13 lead. The teams then traded points before Sharp connected with Kagoro for a powerful kill to make it 23-18 in favor of the Falcons and force Stevenson to take their second timeout. The teams traded points out of the timeout with Snyder notching a kill for the Falcons before Sharp connected with Ryan Givens for the final point of the set with the Falcons earning a 25-20 set win and taking a 2-1 lead in the match.

Fourth Set
Stevenson started set four 2-0 before five straight for the Falcons gave them the 5-2 lead with kills by Todd Snyder, Tyler McConnell, and Alex Kagoro and a block for Jacob Hamm and Snyder. The teams then started trading points with a pair of kills for McConnell from Brandon Sharp gave Messiah a 7-4 lead before a Brayden Parks service ace. Ryan Givens picked up a solo block to bring the score to 9-5 in favor of Messiah before the Mustangs scored a pair. Messiah scored a pair on a Mustangs error and Ryan Givens service ace. Kills by Kagoro and Hamm followed by a Stevenson error brought the score to 14-9 in favor of Messiah, forcing a Stevenson timeout. The timeout helped Stevenson build some momentum as they cut the deficit to two with Messiah holding a 15-13 advantage. A kill by Kagoro was followed by a Stevenson kill before the Falcons added a pair of points of a kill for Givens from Sharp and an error by the Mustangs. Stevenson scored a point before Alex Kagoro notched a kill and the Mustangs had an error and called a timeout with Messiah leading 20-15. Stevenson notched a kill out of the break before Kagoro got a kill and a solo block to bring the score to 22-16. After trading service errors, the Mustangs notched a kill before a kill for Jacob Hamm and error for Stevenson gave the Falcons a 25-18 set win and 3-1 match win.

Stats
Alex Kagoro led the Falcons with 23 kills with Tyler McConnell adding 10. Brandon Sharp dished out 50 assists for the Falcons. McConnell led the Falcons with 15 digs while Conner Stauffer added 14. Kagoro, Brayden Parks, and Todd Snyder each had a pair of service aces.

Up Next
The Falcons return to action when they travel to King's College on Saturday, March 8, for a game at 12:00 p.m.