ARLINGTON, Va. – The No. 8 Messiah Men's Volleyball team traveled to Marymount University on Saturday afternoon to take on the Saints in the regular season finale before starting the Middle Atlantic Conference Championship Tournament next week. The Falcons earned the sweep to close out the regular season with set scores of 25-17, 25-18, and 28-26. Alex Kagoro led all players with 19 kills while Ryan Givens added eight and Jacob Hamm added seven. Brandon Sharp dished out 34 assists while Givens and Hamm each added three blocks.

The Falcons will host one of two MAC Semifinal matches on Thursday, April 10 at 7:00 p.m. on Jordan Court in Hitchcock Arena. The No. 2 Messiah Falcons will host the No. 3 Misericordia University Cougars in the semifinal match.

First Set
Messiah started the first set 2-0 with an error by the Saints and a kill from Brandon Sharp. The teams traded errors before trading kills with Brandon Sharp connecting with Alex Kagoro. Ryan Givens then picked up a service ace to give the Falcons a 5-2 lead. Messiah extended the score to 7-4 with kills from Kagoro and Todd Snyder before scoring four straight on a Marymount error, a kill for Jacob Hamm, a service ace for Snyder, and a block for Hamm and Givens brought the score to 11-5 in favor of Messiah, forcing a Marymount timeout. The Saints scored a pair out of the break before Sharp connected with Tyler McConnell for the kill and Brayden Parks picked up a service ace. After the teams traded service errors, Tyler McConnell connected with Ryan Givens for a kill to give Messiah a 15-8 lead. The teams traded service errors again before trading kills with Alex Kagoro notching one for the Falcons. Kagoro then scored two straight for the Falcons with a kill from Sharp and a service ace, giving Messiah the 19-12 advantage. The Saints brought the deficit to five before Ryan Givens notched a kill for Messiah. The Falcons scored three straight with a pair of errors for the Saints split by a kill for Alex Kagoro. After a point for the Saints, Brandon Sharp connected with Ryan Givens for set point, giving Messiah the 25-17 win and 1-0 match lead.

Second Set
The teams traded the first five points with Brandon Sharp finding Tyler McConnell and Ryan Givens for a kill each. Messiah then scored four straight with Alex Kagoro picking up three kills and Jacob Hamm adding one. A block by the Saints was followed by another kill for Kagoro as Messiah took a 7-4 lead. Messiah strung three together as a pair of kills for Jacob Hamm was split by a kill from Alex Kagoro on an overpass to bring the Messiah advantage to 10-5. The teams then traded points as McConnell, Givens, and Kagoro each notched kills as the score came to 13-9 in favor of the Falcons. A kill for Hamm from Sharp was followed by a service ace for Sharp to bring the score to 15-9. An error for Marymount was followed by a block for Ryan Givens and Jacob Hamm as the score moved to 18-11. The teams traded the next eight points with Hamm and Kagoro getting kills before a kill for Alex Kagoro from Brandon Sharp brought the score to 22-16 in favor of Messiah. The teams traded points for the remainder of the set with three Marymount errors giving Messiah the 25-18 set win and the 2-0 match lead.

Third Set
Brandon Sharp found Jacob Hamm for the first kill of the third set before Alex Kagoro connected with Tyler McConnell to give Messiah an early 2-0 lead. The teams traded points before Alex Kagoro notched a kill from Sharp. The teams continued trading points as Alex Kagoro and Todd Snyder each notched a kill as the Falcons took a 7-5 lead. Marymount took a 10-8 lead as they scored five of the next six points. Three errors by the Saints and a solo block for Ryan Givens gave Messiah the 12-10 advantage as Marymount took a timeout. The Saints notched a kill before Sharp and Givens connected for Messiah. The Saints then earned three straight to take a 14-13 lead. The Flacons regained the lead at 16-14 with a Marymount error and a pair of kills for Kagoro. Back-to-back kills for the Saints tied the score at 16-16. Messiah earned two with a Saints service error and a service ace from Alex Kagoro. A pair of errors then tied the score at 18-18. Alex Kagoro notched a kill from Brandon Sharp before the Saints had a kill of their own. Messiah scored a pair with a kill from Givens and an error by the Saints to take a 21-19 lead. The teams then traded a pair of kills with Brandon Sharp connecting with both Tyler McConnell and Ryan Givens for kills to bring the score to 23-21 in favor of Messiah. Brandon Sharp brought the score to 24-21 with a kill before the Saints tied it at 24-24. The Saints had a pair of service errors and a pair of kills as the score moved to 26-26. The Falcons earned the 28-26 win after a kill for Alex Kagoro from Brandon Sharp and a solo block from Jacob Hamm.

Stats
Alex Kagoro led all players with 19 kills while Ryan Givens added eight and Jacob Hamm added seven. Brandon Sharp dished out 34 assists while Givens and Hamm each added three blocks. Kagoro led the Falcons with six digs with Conner Stauffer adding five and Seth Graybill adding four.

Up Next
The Falcons will host one of two MAC Semifinal matches on Thursday, April 10 at 7:00 p.m. on Jordan Court in Hitchcock Arena. The No. 2 Messiah Falcons will host the No. 3 Misericordia University Cougars in the semifinal match.