LANCASTER, Pa. – The No. 8 Messiah Men's Volleyball team traveled to Lancaster Bible College to take on the Chargers in a Tuesday night matchup. The Falcons and Chargers battled throughout the night, with the Falcons claiming set one 25-23 before the Chargers took set two 26-24. Set three remained close throughout before the Falcons extended their lead and claimed the set 25-21. Lancaster Bible took an early lead in set four that Messiah battled back against throughout the match. Messiah took a 13-12 lead and slowly extended their lead, ultimately taking the set 25-22 and earning the 3-1 match victory. Tyler McConnell led the Falcons with 12 kills while Tyler Good added 11 and tallied seven digs. Jake Eby and Brandon Sharp each tallied three blocks while Sharp dished out 37 assists.

The Falcons return to action on Friday, Feb. 6, when they host the No. 4 Eagles of Juniata College. Action is set to begin at 7:00 p.m. on Jordan Court in Hitchcock Arena.

First Set
The teams traded early kills with Sean Gillespie finding Tyler Good for the Falcons first point of the set before the Chargers earned three straight to take a 4-1 lead. The next seven points were traded between the Falcons and the Chargers as Brandon Sharp connected with Jake Eby and Tyler McConnell for kills. Lancaster Bible took a 10-5 lead after three straight, causing a Messiah timeout. A Chargers kill out of the time out was followed by errors from both teams before another Charger kill. Jake Eby then notched a kill before Todd Snyder and Brandon Sharp combined for a block. Snyder and Tyler McConnell combined for a block on the next play to cut the deficit to three, trailing 14-11. Sharp again found McConnell before Aidan Dunwoody connected with Gillespie to bring the score to 15-13 in favor of the Chargers. Snyder tallied a kill before the Chargers scored two straight to extend their lead to 18-14. Messiah scored three straight that included a service ace for Snyder and a block from Eby and Tyler Good to cut the deficit to one at 18-17, forcing a Chargers timeout. Out of the timeout, Todd Snyder notched a pair of service aces to take the 19-18 lead and force Lancaster Bible to take their second timeout. The teams traded kills then service errors before a kill for Tyler McConnell from Brandon Sharp and an attack error for the Chargers gave Messiah a 23-21 lead. A pair of service errors from the Chargers gave Messiah the 25-23 set one win.

Second Set
The Falcons opened the scoring in set two with a kill for Sean Gillespie from Brandon Sharp. Jake Eby and Tyler McConnell each tallied kills as the Falcons took a 3-2 lead. The Chargers claimed five of the next six points, taking a 7-4 lead. A service error for Lancaster Bible was followed by three points for the Chargers, holding a 10-5 lead. Sharp connected with Tyler Good for a kill before the team traded points. The Chargers took a 13-7 lead, causing a Messiah timeout. Out of the timeout, the Falcons scored three of the next four with Tyler Good and Tyler McConnell each tallying kills as the Falcons cut the deficit to four at 14-10. The teams traded points before Lancaster Bible scored three straight, extending their lead to 20-13 and forcing the second Messiah timeout. After trading points, the Falcons tallied four straight, including a pair of back-to-back blocks for Eby and Sharp. After a Chargers kill, Messiah scored four straight to tie it 22-22 behind a pair of errors for Lancaster Bible and kills from McConnell and Snyder. The back-and-forth play continued with Sharp and Eby combining for a kill and McConnell tallying a kill to bring the score to 24-24. A pair of errors for the Falcons gave Lancaster Bible the 26-24 set two win,  notching the match 1-1.

Third Set
The Falcons opened the third set with a kill for Tyler Good on an overpass from the Chargers. Sean Gillespie and Jake Eby combined for a block before a kill for Eby gave Messiah an early 3-2 lead. Lancaster Bible took a 6-3 lead with a four point run before Brandon Sharp connected with Eby and Tyler McConnell for a pair of kills. McConnell, Snyeder, and Eby each tallied kills alternating with Chargers points as Lancaster Bible took an 11-9 lead. A kill for Good and block from Eby and Sharp brought the score to 14-12 in favor of Lancaster Bible before an error from the Chargers and a kill from Tyler McConnell brought the deficit to one at 15-14. After a kill for the Chargers, Todd Snyder and Brandon Sharp each tallied a kill to tie the score before three straight errors for the Chargers gave Messiah the 19-16 lead, forcing a Chargers timeout. The teams traded service errors before Snyder notched a service ace. A pair of kills for Good from Sharp gave the Falcons a 23-18 lead. Lancaster Bible tallied a pair of their own kills before Sharp again found Good for the 24-21 lead. A kill for Jake Eby solidified the 25-21 set three win for Messiah, taking a 2-1 lead in the match.

Fourth Set
The Chargers took an early 4-0 lead in set four before a service error put the Falcons on the board. Jake Eby and Brandon Sharp combined for a block and a second error for Lancaster Bible brought the deficit to one at 4-3. The Chargers then claimed five of the next six points to extend their lead to 9-4. Sharp looked for a setter dump that a Charger blocked out of bounds before the teams traded points. The Falcons brought the score within one after four straight behind three errors for Lancaster Bible and a service ace for Tyler McConnell. The Falcons took a 13-12 lead after a kill for Tyler Good from Sharp, a service ace for Todd Snyder, and an error for the Chargers. The Falcons and Chargers continued to trade points with Eby notching a pair of kills and McConnell and Snyder combining for a block to take a 17-15 lead. Todd Snyder then tallied a pair of kills split with a Chargers error to extend the Messiah lead to 20-16, forcing a Lancaster Bible timeout. Sharp connected with McConnell out of the timeout for a kill before the Chargers scored two. After a service error, the Chargers again scored two, bringing the score to 22-20 in favor of Messiah. The teams exchanged the next four points with Todd Snyder and Sean Gillespie each tallying a kill before Brandon Sharp connected with Tyler Good to secure the set 25-22, giving the Falcons the 3-1 win.

Stats
Tyler McConnell led the Falcons with 12 kills while Tyler Good added 11 and tallied seven digs. Jake Eby and Brandon Sharp each tallied three blocks while Sharp dished out 37 assists. Aidan Dunwoody collected a team high nine digs. The Falcons outhit the Chargers .279 to .237.

Up Next
The Falcons return to action on Friday, Feb. 6, when they host the No. 4 Eagles of Juniata College. Action is set to begin at 7:00 p.m. on Jordan Court in Hitchcock Arena.