DALLAS, Pa. – The No. 6 Messiah Men's Volleyball team traveled to Misericordia University for their conference opener of the 2026 season. The Falcons earned the 3-0 sweep to open conference play with set scores of 28-26, 25-19, and 25-22. Alex Kagoro led the Falcons with 20 kills, with Tyler McConnell adding 11. The pair each hit above .300, notching respective percentages of .316 and .350. Tyler Good led the Falcons with 14 digs, adding seven kills and a solo block. Brandon Sharp dished out 38 assists.

The Falcons return to action on Thursday, Feb. 26, when they travel to Eastern University at 7:00 p.m. to take on the Eagles as Middle Atlantic Conference play continues.

First Set
Misericordia took an early 2-0 lead before a pair of errors for the Cougars notched the score at 2-2. A kill for Alex Kagoro from Brandon Sharp brought the score to 4-4 before the Cougars took the lead back. Sharp found Ethan Earhart for a kill before Kagoro and Sharp each tallied kills to tie the score 7-7. Todd Snyder and Tyler McConnell each tallied kills as the teams battled point-for-point as McConnell tallied another pair of kills to bring the score to 11-11. Ethan Earhart tallied a kill before Alex Kagoro snatched two to move the score to 14-14. The Cougars tallied four straight to take an 18-14 lead, causing a Messiah timeout. Out of the break, Brandon Sharp connected with Tyler Good before Misericordia scored a pair. The Falcons tallied four kills straight from Alex Kagoro to bring the deficit to one at 21-20, forcing Misericordia to take a timeout. Kagoro and Ethan Earhart each tallied a kill, bringing the score to 23-22 in favor of the Cougars. Misericordia took a 24-22 lead before a solo block from Tyler Good and a pair of kills for Good gave Messiah the 25-24 lead, forcing a second Misericordia timeout. The teams traded errors to end the set, with Messiah taking the 28-26 set one win, and the 1-0 match lead.

Second Set
The Falcons took an early 5-2 lead in set two with Ethan Earhart and Alex Kagoro combining for a block before Sharp found Earhart for a kill and Tyler McConnell found Kagoro then Tyler Good for kills. The Falcons then earned four straight with a kill for McConnell from Sharp and a kill for Kagoro from Aidan Dunwoody. The streak gave Messiah the 9-4 lead, forcing a Misericordia timeout. Todd Snyder tallied a kill before Tyler McConnell tallied a pair and Kagoro added one to extend the lead to 13-6. Tyler Good extended the lead to 17-10 with a pair of kills on overpasses before the teams traded service errors. Misericordia scored four straight to bring the score to 18-15 in favor of Messiah before another trade of service errors. Brandon Sharp found Todd Snyder for a kill before the Cougars scored two. A kill from Tyler McConnell and a service ace from Snyder gave the Falcons a 22-18 lead and forced a timeout for the Cougars. An error from the Cougars and a pair of kills for McConnell from Sharp gave the Falcons the 25-19 set two win and the 2-0 lead in the match.

Third Set
Messiah continued their momentum, earning the first two points with kills for Ethan Earhart and Alex Kagoro from Brandon Sharp. After trading points, Kagoro tallied a second kill before Todd Snyder connected with Tyler Good to give Messiah a 5-3 lead. Snyder and Kagoro then combined for a block before a kill from Snyder extended the lead to 7-4. Sharp assisted on three straight kills from Kagoro, Tyler McConnell, and Snyder to extend the lead to 10-5 and cause a Misericordia timeout. The Cougars tallied a kill out of the break before Sharp found McConnell for a Messiah kill. Kagoro tallied a kill before Misericordia scored three straight and cut their deficit to two at 13-11 in favor of the Falcons. The teams traded errors before Tyler Good found Brandon Sharp for a kill that gave Messiah a 16-13 lead. Kagoro tallied a kill before a service error from the Cougars gave Messiah the 20-17 lead. Sharp found Kagoro once again before three straight from the Cougars notched the score at 21-21, forcing a timeout from Messiah. The timeout proved effective as Brandon Sharp found Alex Kagoro for a kill before Sharp and Todd Snyder combined for a block. An error from the Cougars gave Messiah a 23-21 lead, forcing a timeout for Misericordia. Snyder and Sharp again combined for a block before a Misericordia kill. Sharp found Kagoro for his 20th kill of the night to take set three 25-22, giving the Falcons the 3-0 sweep to open conference play.

Stats
Alex Kagoro led the Falcons with 20 kills, with Tyler McConnell adding 11. The pair each hit above .300, notching respective percentages of .316 and .350. Tyler Good led the Falcons with 14 digs, adding seven kills and a solo block. Brandon Sharp dished out 38 assists.

Up Next
The Falcons return to action on Thursday, Feb. 26, when they travel to Eastern University at 7:00 p.m. to take on the Eagles as Middle Atlantic Conference play continues.