GRANTHAM, Pa. – The No. 8 Messiah Men's Volleyball team hosted the Golden Flyers of Nazareth University Friday night on Jordan Court in Hitchcock Arena. The Falcons earned the 3-0 sweep over the Golden Flyers with set scores of 25-18, 25-10, and 25-12. Alex Kagoro led all players with 14 kills, hitting .619 with one assist and one service ace. Ethan Earhart added six kills, hitting .750. Sean Gillespie tallied seven service aces while Aidan Dunwoody collected seven digs.

The Falcons return to action on Saturday, Feb. 21 at 2:00 p.m. on Jordan Court in Hitchcock Arena when they host No. 9 Southern Virginia University in a rematch of last season's NCAA Quarterfinal contest.

First Set
Messiah opened the first set with a 2-0 lead after an opening service error from the Golden Flyers and a kill for Alex Kagoro from Tyler Good. The Falcons scored six of the next eight points, with kills from Kagoro and Todd Snyder from Brandon Sharp and a service ace from Sean Gillespie extended the lead to 8-2, forcing an early Nazareth timeout. Out of the timeout, play evened out a bit, with Snyder and Good each tallying kills before back-to-back-kills from Kagoro and Tyler McConnell brought the Messiah lead to 12-5. The Golden Flyers cut the deficit to five before Messiah scored three straight with a kill on an overpass for Alex Kagoro giving Messiah the 17-9 lead. The teams traded service errors before Nazareth tallied a pair of service aces. A kill for Tyler Good from Brandon Sharp brought the score to 19-14 in favor of Messiah before the teams traded errors with the score coming to 20-16 in favor of Messiah. Sharp found Ethan Earhart for back-to-back kills in the middle to extend the lead to 22-16 before a kill from Kagoro brought it to 23-17. After a Nazareth kill, a kill for Alex Kagoro from Brandon Sharp followed by a service ace from Sean Gillespie gave Messiah the 25-18 set one win and the 1-0 lead in the match.

Second Set
The Falcons took a 3-0 lead to open set two with an error from the Golden Flyers and back-to-back kills for Alex Kagoro from Tyler Good and Brandon Sharp. Kagoro added a third kill and Tyler Good crushed an overpass to extend the lead to 6-2. A service ace from Sean Gillespie was followed by a pair of Nazareth points. Messiah scored five straight with a kill for Kagoro from Aidan Dunwoody, kills from Todd Snyder and Kagoro from Sharp, and a service ace from Good. A block from Sharp and Snyder gave the Falcons the 13-5 lead. Tyler McConnell found Todd Snyder for a kill before Ethan Earhart connected with McConnell for a kill to give Messiah a 16-7 lead. After a Nazareth point, a service error for the Golden Flyers and kills from Earhart and Kagoro extended the lead to 19-8. With the Falcons leading 20-10, Messiah tallied five straight that included a pair of service aces for Sean Gillespie and a kill for Todd Snyder to take set two 25-10 and take a 2-0 lead in the match.

Third Set
Messiah took a 2-0 lead behind a service error from Nazareth and a block from Alex Kagoro and Ethan Earhart. After a pair from Nazareth, Brandon Sharp connected with Earhart and Kagoro for kills before an error for the Golden Flyers and a service error for Tyler McConnell gave Messiah the 6-2 lead. A kill for Nazareth was followed with a service error from Nazareth and a pair of service aces for Sean Gillespie extended the lead to 9-3. A kill from Tyler Good followed by a service ace from Kagoro continued to extend the lead to 11-4 before Ethan Earhart connected with Tyler McConnell to bring the score to 14-6 in favor of Messiah. After a pair for the Golden Flyers, Messiah went on a 8-0 run that saw a number of Nazareth errors and a pair of kills from Earhart from Brandon Sharp and Jonathan Nixon to give Messiah a 22-8 lead. Nixon connected with Seth Rajnic for a kill before a pair of service errors from Nazareth gave Messiah the 25-12 set three win and the 3-0 match sweep.

Stats
Alex Kagoro led all players with 14 kills, hitting .619 with one assist and one service ace. Ethan Earhart added six kills, hitting .750. Sean Gillespie tallied seven service aces while Aidan Dunwoody collected seven digs.

Up Next
The Falcons return to action on Saturday, Feb. 21 at 2:00 p.m. on Jordan Court in Hitchcock Arena when they host No. 9 Southern Virginia University in a rematch of last season's NCAA Quarterfinal contest.