UNION, N.J. – The No. 4 Messiah Men's Volleyball team was in action at the The Clash at Kean on Saturday, Jan. 31. The Falcons opened their day with a 3-2 win against Kean University. The Falcons took set one 27-25 and set two 25-22 before dropping the next two sets with scores of 25-17 and 25-18 in favor of the Cougars. The Falcons battled back and earned the 15-12 win to secure the match victory. In the Falcons' battle with No. 19 Lasell, the Falcons dropped straight sets 25-23, 25-22, and 27-25.
Messiah returns to the court on Tuesday, Feb. 3 when they travel to Lancaster Bible College for a 7:00 p.m. matchup.

No. 4 Messiah vs Kean

Set One
The Falcons and Cougars traded points early, with Tyler Good earning a kill and Brandon Sharp and Sean Gillespie combining for a block as the score came to 4-4. A kill for Jake Eby and a pair for Tyler McConnell gave Messiah a 7-6 lead. Kean scored four points, split by a kill from Eby, to take a 10-8 lead. Todd Snyder notched a kill before a kill for Kean gave them an 11-9 lead. Three straight for the Falcons with kills from Good and McConnell gave Messiah the 12-11 lead. The teams continued to trade points for the remainder of the match. Messiah picked up kills from Snyder, Sharp, and Eby to bring the score to 15-15. The Falcons took a 17-16 lead with a solo block from Jake Eby and an attack error for the Cougars. Todd Snyder and Tyler McConnell picked up kills for the 20-19 lead. Eby tallied the next three kills for the Falcons with the score reaching 23-22. A pair of kills for Tyler Good brought the score to 25-25 before an attack error from Kean gave Messiah the 26-25 lead and forced a Kean timeout. Brandon Sharp and Todd Snyder combined for a block to claim the 27-25 first set win.

Set Two
Brandon Sharp found Tyler Good to open set two with a kill before kills for Todd Snyder and Tyler McConnell gave the Falcons an early 4-1 lead. The teams traded the next four points with Messiah taking a 6-3 lead on a kill from McConnell before a block for Jake Eby and McConnell. Kean cut the deficit to one with three straight points before a kill from Eby and an error for the Cougars gave the Falcons a 9-6 lead. Eby, Everett Macurda, and Snyder each tallied a kill while the Falcons held a 12-11 lead. The teams began trading points before a service ace from Tyler McConnell gave Messiah the 16-14 lead. Kean tied the match at 16-16 before taking an 18-17 lead. A pair of kills for Tyler Good split with a block from Good and Todd Snyder gave the Falcons a 21-18 lead before an error from Kean extended the lead to 22-18. The Cougars scored three straight to cut Messiah's lead to 22-21, with Messiah taking a timeout. A block for the Cougars tied the score at 22-22 before a kill for Snyder and service ace for Good gave Messiah the 24-22 lead, forcing Kean to use a timeout. Out of the timeout, Tyler Good notched a second service ace to give the Falcons the 25-22 set win, and the 2-0 match lead.

Set Three
The teams opened set three trading points with Tyler Good and Tyler McConnell each tallying kills for an early 4-2 lead. McConnell and Jake Eby added kills for a 7-6 lead before Good and Todd Snyder each added a kill to extend the score to 9-8. Kean took a lead with a pair of kills before Brandon Sharp found Good and McConnell for kills to give the Falcons the lead back at 12-11. Messiah scored three straight with a kill for Tyler McConnell from Tyler Good and a pair of errors from the Cougars to take a 15-12 lead, forcing a Kean timeout. Out of the timeout, Kean scored five straight to take a 17-15 lead, with Messiah forced to take a timeout. After a pair of attack errors for the Falcons, Messiah took their second timeout, trailing Mean 19-15. The Falcons struggled on the attack, with Eby tallying a kill out of the Falcons' seven attempts, as Kean took set three 25-17.

Set Four
Messiah held an early 5-4 lead that included a pair of kills for Tyler McConnell from Brandon Sharp before Kean started an early run, notching four kills and a service ace to take a 9-5 lead. Another kill for the Cougars led to a Messiah timeout, trailing 11-5. Jake Eby and Alex Kagoro tallied kills for the Falcons before Kean scored a pair. Sharp found Todd Snyder for a kill before the Cougars scored two to take a 16-9 lead, with the Falcons taking their second timeout. Kean scored six of the next ten, extending their lead to 22-13. Messiah earned three straight points behind a kill from Jake Eby and a pair of attack errors from Kean to cut the Cougars' lead to 22-16. Jonathan Nixon tallied a kill before an attack error for Kean brought the score to 23-18 in favor of the Cougars before they scored two to take set four 25-18 and notch the match score at 2-2.

Set Five
With the match on the line, Messiah scored the first two points with a block from Todd Snyder and Jonathan Nixon and an error from the Cougars. Kills from Tyler McConnell from Brandon Sharp and for Sharp from Tyler Good gave the Falcons a 5-2 lead before a service ace for Good extended the lead to 6-2 and forced a Kean timeout. Out of the timeout, Good found McConnell for a kill before the teams traded service errors. Tyler McConnell notched a kill to give Messiah the 9-5 lead. Jake Eby and McConnell each tallied a kill to take an 11-6 lead. After a kill from Tyler Good, the Cougars scored four straight to cut the Messiah lead to 12-11. A pair of errors for Kean brought Messiah the 14-11 lead. After a kill for Kean, Brandon Sharp and Todd Snyder combined for a block to earn the 15-12 set five win and earn the 3-2 match win.

Stats
Tyler McConnell led the Falcons with 21 kills and added 10 digs. Jake Eby added 13 kills while Tyler Good added 12 kills, 13 digs, and three service aces. Brandon Sharp dished out 50 assists and tallied 12 digs.

No. 4 Messiah vs No. 19 Lasell

Set One
The Falcons opened match two with a block from Todd Snyder and Brandon Sharp before Tyler Good found Tyler McConnell for back-to-back kills to take a 3-0 lead. McConnell and Jake Eby each tallied a kill before an error for Lasell gave Messiah a 6-2 lead. The Lasers looked to level the score, bringing it to 9-8 in favor of Messiah before a Lasell error, kill by Snyder, solo block from Sharp and an attack error for Lasell extended the Messiah lead to 13-8. McConnell and Sharp picked up kills before McConnell and Eby combined for a block to take a 16-10 lead. The Lasers scored three straight before a kill from Jake Eby ended the run. The teams traded service errors before Todd Snyder and Tyler Good combined for a block, giving the Falcons a 19-14 lead. Lasell scored seven of the next nine points, forcing a Messiah timeout with the Falcons leading 21-20. Out of the timeout, Lasell took a 22-21 lead and Messiah used their second timeout. Lasell took a 24-21 lead before an attack error and block from Brandon Sharp and Jake Eby brought the score to 24-23. A service error gave Lasell the 25-23 set one win.

Set Two
Set two opened with a kill for Tyler McConnell from Brandon Sharp. A pair of errors from Lasell gave Messiah the 3-0 lead. The Lasers took a lead before a kill for Jonathan Nixon notched the score 4-4. Nixon tallied another kill before Lasell took a 7-5 lead. The Lasers extended the lead to 12-7, forcing a Messiah timeout. Lasell scored three before a service error gave Messiah control. Sharp found McConnell for a kill before Eby and Nixon earned a block to bring the score to 16-11 in favor of the Lasers. The teams began trading points as the Lasell lead moved to 18-14 after a pair of Lasers attacking errors forced a timeout for Lasell. Todd Snyder notched a kill before Nixon earned a service ace. Sharp and Good earned a block to cut the deficit to two, trailing 19-17. The teams then traded the next eight points, with McConnell, Sharp, Eby, and Good earning kills. A pair of kills for the Lasers gave Lasell the 25-22 win, taking a 2-0 lead in the match.

Set Three
The Falcons and Lasers traded points early with Tyler Good and Tyler McConnell earning kills. A kill from Jake Eby and a block from Sean Gillespie and Todd Snyder notched the score 6-6. Lasell scored four straight, taking a 10-6 lead and forcing a Messiah timeout. Snyder notched a kill and a service ace, with the Falcons trailing 11-9. The teams traded points before the Lasers jumped to a 17-12 lead. Sharp connected with Jonathan Nixon and Sean Gillespie for back-to-back kills before a pair of kills for Lasell maintained the five point lead. McConnell notched a pair of kills before Sharp and McConnell each added one. Todd Snyder added a service ace to get the score to 20-19 in Lasell's favor as Lasell called a timeout. After a kill for Lasell, Jake Eby notched a kill, Sharp secured an ace, and Nixon tallied a kill to take a 22-21 lead. Lasell regained the lead before the teams traded points and the score game to 25-25. A pair of kills gave Lasell the 27-25 win to earn the sweep.

Stats
Tyler McConnell led the Falcons in the second match with 15 kills, while Jonathan Nixon and Jake Eby each added five. Brandon Sharp tallied 30 assists and both Eby and Sharp tallied four blocks. Aidan Dunwoody led the Falcons with 17 digs.

Up Next
Messiah returns to the court on Tuesday, Feb. 3 when they travel to Lancaster Bible College for a 7:00 p.m. matchup.