BEREA, Ohio – The No. 10 Messiah Men's Volleyball team opened a weekend at Baldwin Wallace on Friday night, Feb.13, with a top ten match-up against the No. 9 Yellow Jackets. The teams provided a battle through the night, with the Falcons claiming the first two sets 25-20 and 25-18 before the Yellow Jackets took set three 25-23. Much of the fourth set was point-for-point volleyball before a kill from Alex Kagoro followed by a block from Jake Eby gave the Falcons the 29-27 set four win to claim the match 3-1, handing Baldwin Wallace only their second loss on the season. Alex Kagoro led the Falcons with 18 kills, adding a pair of service aces and three blocks. Todd Snyder tallied 12 kills and seven blocks for the Falcons.

Messiah returns to the court at Baldwin Wallace tomorrow to face Hobart College at 3:00 p.m. and will play again at 5:00 p.m. against Benedictine University.

First Set
The Falcons opened set one on a 3-0 run with a kill for Tyler McConnell from Aidan Dunwoody and a block from McConnell and Todd Snyder. After a kill for the Yellow Jackets, McConnell found Snyder then Alex Kagoro for kills to give the Falcons an early 5-1 lead. A solo block for Jake Eby brought the lead to 8-3 before a kill from Kagoro from Brandon Sharp extended the lead to 10-5, forcing a time out from Baldwin Wallace. The Yellow Jackets scored six of the next seven points to notch the score at 11-11 before the Falcons put together their own run of four points. The run included a kill and solo block from Todd Snyder, a service ace from Tyler McConnell, and a kill from Alex Kagoro. Snyder tallied a kill and service ace to extend the Falcons lead to 17-12 before Kagoro added a kill and ace of his own to bring the score to 19-14 in favor of Messiah, forcing Baldwin Wallace to take their second timeout. The teams traded service errors before attack error from the Yellow Jackets gave Messiah the 21-15 lead. The Falcons and Yellow Jackets traded another set of points before a block from Alex Kagoro and Todd Snyder brought it to set point for the Falcons at 24-17. Baldwin Wallace tallied a pair of kills before Messiah called their first timeout. The Yellow Jackets notched a block to make it 24-20 in favor of Messiah before a service error from Baldwin Wallace gave Messiah the 25-20 set one win.

Second Set
The Falcons and Yellow Jackets began the second set trading the first eight points before the Falcons notched a pair of kills for Brandon Sharp from Tyler McConnell and for Jake Eby from Sharp to take a 6-4 lead. Following a service error for Baldwin Wallace and a service ace for Sean Gillespie, the teams traded service errors with the Falcons taking a 9-6 lead. Todd Snyder found McConnell for a kill to extend the lead to 10-6, causing a Baldwin Wallace timeout. Out of the timeout, Baldwin Wallace cut the deficit with two straight points before a Yellow Jackets error and kill for Tyler Good on an overpass gave Messiah the 12-8 lead. Sharp found Good for the kill before the teams again traded service errors and the Falcons took a 14-10 lead. Baldwin Wallace scored a pair before Sharp found Alex Kagoro for the kill and an error from the Yellow Jackets maintained the four point Falcon lead at 16-12. The Falcons extended the score to 20-16 with back-to-back kills for Alex Kagoro from Brandon Sharp as the Yellow Jackets took their second timeout. An error from the Yellow Jackets and a block for Tyler Good and Todd Snyder gave the Falcons a 22-16 lead before another Baldwin Wallace error brought the score to 23-16 in favor of Messiah. Todd Snyder and Alex Kagoro each notched a kill as the Falcons took set two 25-18 and took a 2-0 lead in the match.

Third Set
The Yellow Jackets earned the first point of set three before Brandon Sharp found Todd Snyder for a kill. Baldwin Wallace then scored six of the next eight points to take a 7-3 lead. A kill from Alex Kagoro was followed by a Falcons service error before Messiah scored three straight on kills from Jake Eby, Snyder, and Tyler McConnell to cut the deficit to one at 8-7 in favor of the Yellow Jackets. The teams traded points that included a pair of kills for Kagoro before Baldwin Wallace extended their lead to 13-10. Tyler Good and Jake Eby combined for a block to bring the score to 13-11 in favor of the Yellow Jackets before a block from Brandon Sharp and Todd Snyder brought the deficit back to one at 15-14. The Falcons took the lead after a three-point run that included a pair of Baldwin Wallace errors and a kill for Snyder from Sharp. Sharp again found Snyder before finding Alex Kagoro to take a 19-17 lead, forcing a timeout from Baldwin Wallace. The teams traded service errors out of the timeout before the Yellow Jackets notched a kill. Service errors were again exchanged before a kill from Jake Eby gave the Falcons a 22-21 lead. The teams traded points before an attack error gave the Yellow Jackets the 24-23 lead, causing Messiah to take their first timeout. Baldwin Wallace secured the 25-23 set three win with a block out of the timeout, bringing the match score to 2-1 in favor of Messiah.

Fourth Set
The fourth set opened with the Falcons and Yellow Jackets trading point for point, with Tyler McConnell and Todd Snyder partnering for a block early as the score came to 3-3. Messiah then scored three straight on a pair of errors from the Yellow Jackets and a service ace from Alex Kagoro, giving Messiah the 6-3 lead. The Yellow Jackets were quick to answer with a pair of their own before Aidan Dunwoody found Brandon Sharp for a kill to give Messiah a 7-5 lead. Sharp then found Jake Eby for a kill before the teams traded errors, with Messiah taking a 12-8 lead following a block from Kagoro and Snyder to force a Baldwin Wallace timeout. The Yellow Jackets notched a kill out of the timeout before Sharp found Kagoro for a kill. After a pair of points for Baldwin Wallace, Sharp found Tyler Good before an error from Baldwin Wallace brought the score to 15-11 in favor of Messiah. The Falcons took a 17-13 lead with Kagoro and Jake Eby combing for a block before Kagoro found Good for a kill as the teams continued trading points. Eby and Sharp combined for a block and the Yellow Jackets tallied an attack error as Messiah took a 19-14 lead and Baldwin Wallace took their second timeout of the set. The Yellow Jackets cut the deficit out of the timeout with three straight kills before a service error brought the score to 20-17 in favor of the Falcons. A pair of kills for Baldwin Wallace was followed by a kill for Tyler McConnell from Brandon Sharp as the Falcons maintained their two-point advantage at 21-19. Alex Kagoro notched a kill before the Yellow Jackets notched the score 22-22 with a kill and block, causing Messiah to call a timeout. Out of the timeout, the teams traded service errors to move the score to 23-23 before trading the next nine points. Brandon Sharp found Alex Kagoro for a kill before Baldwin Wallace matched with a kill of their own for a 24-24 score. Jake Eby and Sharp combined for a block at 25-24 before a kill from Todd Snyder gave the Falcons a 26-25 lead. Alex Kagoro tallied a pair of kills as Messiah took a 28-27 lead before Jake Eby knocked down a solo block in the middle to give Messiah the 29-27 set win to claim the match 3-1.

Stats
Alex Kagoro led the Falcons with 18 kills, adding a pair of service aces and three blocks. Todd Snyder tallied 12 kills and seven blocks for the Falcons. Brandon Sharp dished out 32 assists in the win. Tyler Good led all players with 14 digs while Aidan Dunwoody added seven.

Up Next
Messiah returns to the court at Baldwin Wallace tomorrow to face Hobart College at 3:00 p.m. and will play again at 5:00 p.m. against Benedictine University.