GRANTHAM, Pa. – The No. 8 Messiah University Falcons hosted the No. 19 Misericordia University Cougars in the Middle Atlantic Conference Semifinal on Thursday night. The Falcons claimed the 3-1 win to advance to the MAC Championship on Saturday. Messiah claimed set one 28-26 and set two 25-21 before dropping set three 25-20. The Falcons were down 24-21 in set four before making the comeback to win 26-24 to earn the 3-1 victory. Alex Kagoro led the Falcons with 19 kills with Tyler McConnell and Jacob Hamm adding 13 and 10 respectively. Hamm and Todd Snyder each had four blocks while Conner Stauffer had a match-high 12 digs.

The Falcons will return to action at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 12 when they travel to Hoboken, N.J. to take on the Ducks of Stevens Institute.

Set One
After a pair of errors started the set 1-1, a Misericordia kill was followed by a kill for Alex Kagoro from Brandon Sharp. After trading a set of points, Messiah scored five straight with a pair of kills from Kagoro, an ace from Ryan Givens and a pair of Cougars' errors to take an 8-3 lead and force a Misericordia timeout. After trading the next five points, Sharp connected with Jacob Hamm then Tyler McConnell as the score came to 12-7 in favor of the Falcons. The teams continued trading points with Kagoro and Hamm picking up kills for Messiah as the Falcons took a 17-12 lead. A service error for the Cougars and kills from Ryan Givens and Tyler McConnell brought the score to 21-16 in Messiah's favor. After a run from the Cougars, a kill from McConnell brought the score to 23-20. A three-point run for Misericordia was followed by a service error before two more points gave the Cougars a 25-24 lead. Brandon Sharp connected with Jacob Hamm to notch the score at 25-25. A kill for Misericordia was followed by three straight from the Falcons with Ryan Givens and Tyler McConnell notching kills before Givens picked up a solo block for the 28-26 set one win.

Set Two
The second set started 4-4 with Jacob Hamm notching a kill and Alex Kagoro getting a pair. A kill from Kagoro started a four-point run that included a kill for Hamm from Brandon Sharp and a block by Hamm and Todd Snyder. The Cougars brought it back to 9-8 in favor of the Falcons before an error. The Cougars scored another three straight to take the 11-10 lead. Ryan Givens and McConnell each notched a kill before a Misericordia kill. Conner Stauffer then set McConnell for a kill before an error gave Messiah the 14-12 lead. The teams then traded points before Jacob Hamm scored a pair followed by a Misericordia kill. A pair of Cougars' errors was followed by a service ace from Todd Snyder to bring the score to 21-16. Givens picked up a kill before a pair of kills for Misericordia. The teams traded service errors before Brandon Sharp had a setter dump to end set two 25-21 and take the 2-0 lead in the match.

Set Three
Misericordia took the first two points before Brandon Sharp found Tyler McConnell for the kill. A block for Brandon Sharp was followed by a service ace for Ryan Givens to notch the score 4-4. After trading service errors, Misericordia claimed six of the next seven points to jump to an 11-6 lead. Jacob Hamm notched a kill before Todd Snyder picked up a service ace. The teams continued trading points with Alex Kagoro picking up a pair of kills from Ryan Givens and Brandon Sharp and Tyler McConnell and Sharp each picking up a kill. A three-point run for the Cougars was ended by a service error that brought the score to 17-13 in favor of Misericordia. The Falcons brought it within three after a kill for Kagoro was followed by a kill for Jacob Hamm. Tyler McConnell picked up a pair of kills with Kagoro adding one as the teams traded possession and Misericordia took a 23-18 lead. A kill for Kagoro from Sharp was not enough as the Cougars took set three 25-20 and forced a fourth set with Messiah leading 2-1.

Set Four
Both teams came prepared to battle in set four with a trip to the conference championship on the line. A kill for Ryan Givens from Brandon Sharp was followed by a Seth Graybill ace to take a 2-1 lead. Alex Kagoro earned a pair of kills and Givens added one to give Messiah the 5-4 lead. The teams traded points with Kagoro, Jacob Hamm, and Tyler McConnell collecting kills as the score came to 11-11. Misericordia scored four of the next five to take a 15-12 lead. Messiah notched the score at 15-15 with a kill from Todd Snyder and a block from Snyder and Hamm. Givens secured a block as the teams continued the back-and-forth action as the Cougars took a 19-17 lead. Givens picked up a kill and Sharp got a block to make it 19-19. A kill by Kagoro made it 21-21 before the Cougars scored three straight to take a 24-21 lead. The Falcons then scored five straight with Alex Kagoro and Tyler McConnell picking up kills. McConnell then connected on a Cougars' overpass to level the score at 24-24. Jacob Hamm and Todd Snyder connected for a block and Alex Kagoro served an ace from the line to give Messiah the 26-24 set four win and take the match 3-1 to advance to the MAC Championship on Saturday afternoon.

Stats
Alex Kagoro led the Falcons with 19 kills with Tyler McConnell and Jacob Hamm adding 13 and 10 respectively. Hamm and Todd Snyder each had four blocks while Conner Stauffer had a match-high 12 digs. Kagoro added 10 digs.

Up Next
The Falcons will return to action at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 12 when they travel to Hoboken, N.J. to take on the Ducks of Stevens Institute.