HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The No. 8 Messiah Men's Volleyball team traveled to Juniata College Friday night for a Second Round match against the No. 16 Randolph-Macon Yellow Jackets in the NCAA Tournament. The Falcons took a 2-0 lead with set scores of 25-22 and 27-25 before the Yellow Jackets battled back and took set three 25-22. The Falcons and Yellow Jackets battled in set four with each team looking to continue their season and the Falcons came out victorious with a 25-16 set four win to take the match 3-1 and advance to the Elite Eight Round against Wittenberg. Alex Kagoro led the Falcons with 23 kills while Jake Eby added 12. Tyler McConnell had a double-double with 10 kills and 16 digs. Brandon Sharp dished out 47 assists and added a pair of blocks. Kagoro and Eby each added three blocks.

Messiah will return to action at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 17 when they take on the Wittenberg Tigers in the Elite Eight Round of the NCAA Tournament hosted by Juniata College.

First Set
The Falcons opened action with a kill Alex Kagoro from Brandon Sharp and an error from the Yellow Jackets to take a 2-0 lead. Kills from Tyler Good and Todd Snyder gave Messiah a 6-5 lead. The teams traded points with Kagoro tallying a pair of kills and a kill from Jake Eby bringing the score to 10-10. Eby and Tyler McConnell added kills before a service ace from Sean Gillespie notched the score 13-13. The Falcons and Yellow Jackets continued to trade points as Brandon Sharp connected with Jake Eby for a pair of kills before finding Tyler McConnell for a kill. Sharp then found Todd Snyder for a pair of kills to extend the Falcons lead to 21-18. A pair of kills for McConnell gave Messiah a 23-20 lead before Randolph-Macon took their second timeout. The Yellow Jackets took a pair to cut the Messiah lead to 23-22, forcing a Messiah timeout. Out of the break, a block for Todd Snyder and Alex Kagoro and an error from Randolph-Macon gave Messiah the 25-22 set one win and 1-0 lead in the match.

Second Set
The Yellow Jackets claimed the first point before Brandon Sharp connected with Alex Kagoro for a kill. An error from the Yellow Jackets and a service ace from Tyler McConnell gave the Falcons a 3-1 lead. The teams traded points with Kagoro tallying a kill and Sharp and Jake Eby combining for a block to take a 6-4 lead. Randolph-Macon notched it at 6-6 before the teams traded points with Tyler McConnell tallying a pair of kills. A kill from Kagoro brought the score to 11-11 before Randolph-Macon took a 17-12 lead, forcing a timeout for the Falcons. Out of the break, Brandon Sharp connected with Jake Eby for a kill before a setter dump from Brandon Sharp and a solo block from Tyler McConnell brought the score to 17-15 in favor of Randolph-Macon. Todd Snyder and Alex Kagoro notched kills before a second kill from Kagoro and an error from the Yellow Jackets brought the score level at 19-19. After a break, the teams traded points with a block and kill from Alex Kagoro and an error from Randolph-Macon giving Messiah the 22-21 lead. The Yellow Jackets took a 23-22 lead before Jake Eby notched a kill then combined with Sharp for a block to take a 24-23 lead. A kill for Eby from Sharp notched the score 25-25 before a service error from Randolph-Macon and a kill for Alex Kagoro from Brandon Sharp gave Messiah the 27-25 set two lead and the 2-0 match lead.

Third Set
Randolph-Macon came out for set three looking to keep their season alive, taking an early 8-3 lead, forcing a timeout for the Falcons. Out of the break, Brandon Sharp found Jake Eby for a kill before the teams traded points. The Yellow Jackets extended their lead to 13-6 before a kill for Todd Snyder and an error from the Yellow Jackets. Aidan Dunwoody connected with Alex Kagoro for a kill before Randolph-Macon took an 18-10 lead, forcing the second Messiah timeout. Jake Eby secured a solo block before Brandon Sharp connected with Tyler McConnell for a pair of kills. Alex Kagoro then tallied a pair of kills and an error from Randolph-Macon brought the score to 22-17 in favor of the Yellow Jackets. Kagoro added a pair of kills before Jake Eby tallied a kill to bring the score to 23-20 in favor of Randolph-Macon. After a timeout for the Yellow Jackets, Randolph-Macon used a pair of kills to take the set 25-22, sending the teams to set four with Messiah leading 2-1.

Fourth Set
Messiah took a 2-0 lead with an error from the Yellow Jackets and a kill for Alex Kagoro from Tyler McConnell. After a kill from Jake Eby, the Yellow Jackets brought the score to 5-5. Messiah scored four straight that included a kill from Tyler McConnell and a pair from Alex Kagoro to take a 9-5 lead, forcing a timeout from Randolph-Macon. Out of the break, the Falcons and Yellow Jackets traded points with Brandon Sharp connecting with Alex Kagoro, Todd Snyder, and Jake Eby for kills to take a 12-8 lead. A setter dump from Brandon Sharp bought the score to 13-9 in favor of Messiah. After the Yellow Jackets cut the deficit to one, Messiah tallied four straight with a kill for Tyler McConnell and a block from McConnell and Todd Snyder to take a 17-12 lead, forcing a Randolph-Macon timeout. The teams traded points out of the break before a kill from Kagoro and an error from Randolph-Macon extended the Messiah lead to 20-13. Todd Snyder picked up a kill before the score was 22-16 in favor of Messiah. Tyler Good found Alex Kagoro for a kill before Brandon Sharp connected with Kagoro for a 24-16 Falcons lead. An error from the Yellow Jackets gave Messiah the 25-16 set four win, and the 3-1 match win to advance to the Elite Eight on Saturday, April 18.

Stats
Alex Kagoro led the Falcons with 23 kills while Jake Eby added 12. Tyler McConnell had a double-double with 10 kills and 16 digs. Brandon Sharp dished out 47 assists and added a pair of blocks. Kagoro and Eby each added three blocks.

Up Next
Messiah will return to action at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 17 when they take on the Wittenberg Tigers in the Elite Eight Round of the NCAA Tournament hosted by Juniata College.