DALLAS, Pa. – The No. 7 Messiah Men's Volleyball opened the 2026 Cougar Kickoff Classic with a sweep over No. 11 Wentworth. The pair of nationally ranked teams kept the score close, with Messiah taking the sets 25-23, 25-18, and 25-22 to secure the win. Alex Kagoro led the Falcons with 12 kills and three service aces. Tyler McConnell added seven kills, while Todd Snyder added six and three blocks. Brandon Sharp dished out 26 assists for the Falcons.

The Falcons return to the court in Dallas, Pa. at 1:00 p.m. to take on Thiel College on Day Two of the Cougar Kickoff Classic before facing Elmira College at 3:00 p.m. to close the weekend.

Set One
Jake Eby opened action in the match with a kill from Brandon Sharp. After a kill from the Leopards, Messiah scored four straight, including a kill from Alex Kagoro and a service ace from Tyler McConnell. The teams traded points before Sharo found Todd Snyder for the kill to give Messiah a 9-5 lead. Wentworth continued the pressure as Kagoro and Tyler Good each notched kills to hold a 13-10 lead. Following a block from Kagoro and Eby, Wentworth scored three straight to take their first lead at 15-14. The Falcons were quick to answer after a Leopards' service error was followed by an ace for Alex Kagoro and a kill for Todd Snyder to regain the 17-15 lead. Kagoro and Snyder each added kills in a back-and-forth fashion before a service error for Wentworth and a kill for Kagoro from Sharp brought the score to 21-18 in favor of Messiah. Wentworth notched the score at 21-21, before taking a 23-21 lead. Messiah scored three straight with a kill from Kagoro and a pair of service aces from Sean Gillespie to claim set one 25-23.

Set Two
It was again Jake Eby opening the scoring, securing a block on the first point of the set. Brandon Sharp then found Alex Kagoro for the early 2-0 lead. The teams traded points before the Falcons earned three straight on a Leopards' error, a service ace from Tyler Good and a kill from Tyler McConnell to bring the score to 8-4 in favor of Messiah. Todd Snyder secured a kill and Eby and Kagoro combined for a block as the Falcons took an 11-6 lead. Messiah extended their lead to 16-10 on a run that included kills by Eby and Snyder and a service ace from Kagoro. The Falcons then tallied four straight kills with one each from Snyder and Sharp before a pair from McConnell extended the lead to 20-11. The Falcons took a 22-12 lad with a kill from Sharp and service ace from Snyder. A pair of kills for Eby brought the Messiah lead to 24-14 before Wentworth scored four straight. The Falcons claimed the 25-18 set two win with a kill from Tyler Good to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

Set Three
Set three opened with a kill for Jake Eby from Brandon Sharp before a pair of errors for Wentworth gave Messiah the early 3-1 lead. Alex Kagoro tallied a pair of kills before a block from Todd Snyder and Tyler Good extended the lead to 6-2. The Leopards took an 8-7 lead after scoring five straight before the Falcons answered with a 7-0 run to reclaim the lead 14-8. The run included kills by Good and McConnell and blocks from Snyder and McConnell. A pair of kills for Tyler McConnell sandwiched a three-point stretch for Wentworth as Messiah took a 16-12 lead. Alex Kagoro scored a pair of kills as the Leopards brought the score to 18-15 in favor of Messiah. Messiah tallied four on kills from Kagoro and Sharp, an ace for Kagoro and a block from Snyder to extend the lead to 22-15. Wentworth battled back to down three at 23-20 before a kill by Tyler McConnell from Tyler Good brought it to 24-20. After a pair of kills for the Leopards, a service error gave Messiah the 25-22 win and the 3-0 match sweep.

Stats
Alex Kagoro led the Falcons with 12 kills and three service aces. Tyler McConnell added seven kills, while Todd Snyder added six and three blocks. Brandon Sharp dished out 26 assists for the Falcons. As a team, the Falcons hit .400 on the day compared to Wentworth's .266. The Falcons outpaced the Leopards in kills, aces, blocks, assists, and digs in the sweep.

Up Next
The Falcons return to the court in Dallas, Pa. at 1:00 p.m. to take on Thiel College on Day Two of the Cougar Kickoff Classic before facing Elmira College at 3:00 p.m. to close the weekend.