BEREA, Ohio – The No. 10 Messiah Men's Volleyball team was in action on Saturday, Feb. 14 against Hobart College and Benedictine University. The Falcons earned the 3-0 sweep over Hobart to open the day with set scores of 25-13, 25-16, and 25-23. Alex Kagoro led all players with 14 kills, adding six digs and two service aces. Tyler McConnell added seven kills while Jake Eby added six and five blocks. Brandon Sharp dished out 28 assists while Aidan Dunwoody led all players with 10 digs. In match two against Benedictine University, the Falcons earned the 3-1 win with set scores of 25-23, 23-25, 25-23, and 25-15. Alex Kagoro led all players with 22 kills and three service aces and added four digs. Tyler McConnell added 12 killss with four digs while Jake Eby tallied 10 kills and four blocks.

The Falcons return to the court on Tuesday, Feb. 17, at 7:00 p.m. when they travel to Elizabethtown College to take on the Blue Jays.

No. 10 Messiah University vs Hobart College

First Set
The Falcons opened set one with a kill for Tyler McConnell from Brandon Sharp. The teams traded points before Alex Kagoro gave Messiah a 5-3 lead with a service ace. Sharp found Jake Eby for a kill before finding Todd Snyder to give the Falcons a 9-7 lead. The Falcons extended their lead to 13-9 behind a pair of kills for Kagoro and a block from Eby and Tyler Good. A kill from Kagoro brought the score to 14-10 before Messiah scored five straight with block from Eby and Sharp, and McConnell and Eby followed by a kill for McConnell and a service ace for Good to extend the lead to 19-11. After an attack error, Messiah scored five straight to take a 24-12 lead. The run included kills from Jake Eby, Alex Kagoro, and Todd Snyder and a block for Brandon Sharp and Snyder, and one from Snyder and Tyler McConnell. A kill for McConnell from Sharp gave Messiah the 25-13 set one win.

Second Set
Messiah struck first in set two with a kill for Alex Kagoro from Brandon Sharp before Hobart scored three straight. The Falcons notched the score 3-3 after an error from Hobart and a kill for Kagoro from Tyler McConnell. The teams traded service errors before a solo block for Tyler Good and an attack error for the Statesmen gave Messiah the 6-4 lead. A pair of Statesmen errors and a service ace from Kagoro extend the Messiah lead to 9-5. After a number of Hobart errors and a pair of kills for Kagoro from Sharp, messiah held a 16-9 lead. Alex Kagoro tallied another pair and a service error from Hobart brought the score to 19-14 in favor of Messiah. The Falcons scored four straight with a kill from Jake Eby and a pair of service aces from Sean Gillespie to take a 23-15 lead. A kill from Todd Snyder and error from the Statesmen gave Messiah the 25-16 set two win and the 2-0 advantage in the match.

Third Set
Hobart started set three with a 4-2 lead before Brandon Sharp found Alex Kagoro for a kill and Todd Snyder tallied a service ace to notch the score 4-4. Tyler Good notched a kill before the Statesmen took a 7-5 lead. Messiah scored four straight that included a block from Jake Eby and Tyler McConnell and a block from Eby and Sharp before a service ace for Good brought the score to 9-7 in favor of the Falcons. Jake Eby and Tyler McConnell each tallied a kill, extending the lead to 13-9. Kagoro tallied a kill before McConnell added a service ace. The score moved to 19-15 in favor of Messiah behind a pair of kills for Kagoro and one each from Eby and McConnell. A kill from Tyler McConnell and a block from Brandon Sharp and Todd Snyder brought the Falcons lead to 22-17 before another kill from McConnell brought it to 23-18. Hobart scored three straight before an attack error gave the Falcons the 24-21 advantage. The Statesmen scored two before Brandon Sharp found Jake Eby for the final kill, claiming set three 25-23 and earning the 3-0 sweep.

Stats
Alex Kagoro led all players with 14 kills, adding six digs and two service aces. Tyler McConnell added seven kills while Jake Eby added six and five blocks. Brandon Sharp dished out 28 assists while Aidan Dunwoody led all players with 10 digs.

No. 10 Messiah University vs. Benedictine University

First Set
Benedictine took a 2-0 lead to open set one before a kill for Tyler McConnell put the Falcons on the board. Brandon Sharp found Alex Kagoro for a kill to bring the score to 3-2 in favor of Benedictine before the Eagles took a 7-2 lead, causing a Messiah timeout. Out of the timeout, a pair of service errors for the Eagles and a kill for Kagoro cut the deficit to three at 8-5. McConnell tallied a pair of kills to bring the score to 9-7 in favor of Benedictine. The Eagles then extended their lead to 14-8 before a kill for Todd Snyder, a service ace for Kagoro, and an Eagles' error brought the score to 14-11 in favor of the Eagles. The teams then traded points with Kagoro and Jake Eby tallying kills for the Falcons as the score came to 16-13 in favor of Benedictine. Eby tallied another kill before the Eagles scored a pair to take a 21-17 lead. Messiah scored three straight with a pair of kills for Alex Kagoro sandwiching a Benedictine error. The Eagles took a timeout as Messiah closed the gap to two at 21-20. Messiah took the lead at 23-22 with a kill from Kagoro, a block from Kagoro and Eby, and a solo block from Eby. After a Benedictine timeout, the Eagles notched a kill before a service error for the Eagles and a kill for Connor Himelfarb gave Messiah the 25-23 set one win and the 1-0 match advantage. Please note: (There was a statistical error in the middle of the first set. We are working to make the necessary corrections, and they will be reflected in the box score and article as soon as possible.)

Second Set
The Falcons opened set two 2-0 with a kill for Tyler McConnell from Brandon Sharp and a kill for Alex Kagoro from Tyler Good. McConnell notched a kill and the Eagles notched a pair of errors as Messiah took a 5-4 lead. Good notched a kill before the Eagles took a 7-6 lead. Messiah then scored four straight with kills from Jake Eby and McConnell and a service ace from Good to take a 10-7 lead and force a Benedictine timeout. Out of the timeout, Eby and Sharp combined for a block before Eby notched a kill to extend the lead to 12-7. Benedictine scored four straight to cut the deficit to one before a kill for McConnell. The teams traded points before the Eagles took a 17-15 lead. Kagoro tallied a kill before a pair from Jake Eby notched the score at 18-18. Messiah took a timeout with Benedictine taking a 21-19 lead. The teams traded points out of the break with McConnell tallying a kill and the teams being notched 22-22. Benedictine took a timeout and scored back-to-back kills to take a 24-22 lead, forcing a Messiah timeout. Brandon Sharp found Alex Kagoro for a kill before Benedictine secured the 25-23 set two win, notching the match at 1-1.

Third Set
The third set was back-and-forth in a similar fashion to set two. Brandon Sharp found Todd Snyder for the Falcons' first kill of the set before Tyler McConnell connected with Alex Kagoro to take a 3-2 lead. Kagoro notched a kill and Jake Eby tallied a solo block before Benedictine scored four straight to take a 7-5 lead. Sharp connected with Kagoro and McConnell as Messiah leveled the score. The Falcons regained the lead after a kill for Snyder and an error for the Eagles. The lead extended to 13-10 after a pair of errors from Benedictine and a kill from Kagoro. Out of a Benedictine timeout, the Eagles notched a kill before Alex Kagoro and Todd Snyder combined for a block. Tyler Good notched a kill and a pair or service errors for the Eagles brought the score to 17-14 in favor of Messiah. Benedictine leveled the score at 18-18 before Brandon Sharp connected with Todd Snyder for a kill and Snyder found Kagoro for a kill to take a 20-18 lead, forcing a second Benedictine timeout. A kill for Kagoro and error for the Eagles extended the Messiah lead to 22-20. Tyler Good tallied a kill before the Eagles leveled the score once again at 23-23. A kill for Alex Kagoro from Brandon Sharp and an Eagles' error gave Messiah the 25-23 set four win and the 2-1 advantage in the match.

Fourth Set
The Falcons started set four with kills for Todd Snyder and Alex Kagoro from Brandon Sharp. Kagoro notched a kill before the Eagles took a 5-4 lead. Messiah scored five straight, with Jake Eby notching a pair of kills, Tyler Good adding one, and Kagoro tallying a pair of service aces to take a 9-5 lead. Good and Kagoro each tallied a kill and the Messiah lead was extended to 12-7 after an Eagles error. Following a kill from the Eagles, Messiah scored seven straight to extend their lead to 18-8. Tyler McConnell tallied a kill before four straight errors from Benedictine and a kill from Alex Kagoro. Kagoro tallied another kill and Tyler Good made a solo block as the Falcons took a 22-10 lead. Benedictine scored three before Brandon Sharp found Good for a kill. Jake Eby notched a kill to bring the score to 24-14 before tallying a second to give Messiah the 25-15 set four win and the 3-1 match win.

Stats
Alex Kagoro led all players with 22 kills and three service aces and added four digs. Tyler McConnell added 12 kills with four digs while Jake Eby tallied 10 kills and four blocks. Brandon Sharp dished out 44 assists and Aidan Dunwoody added six digs.

Up Next
The Falcons return to the court on Tuesday, Feb. 17, at 7:00 p.m. when they travel to Elizabethtown College to take on the Blue Jays.