Box Score
Grantham, PA – Playing rival Elizabethtown College for the second time in less than 10 days, Messiah College again defeated the Blue Jays—this time by way of a sweep to send themselves to the Commonwealth Championship. The trip to the conference finale will be the Falcons' second attempt in as many years to win the program's first-ever conference title.
On Friday, the Falcons (24-7) managed to improve upon their 3-1 victory over Etown (20-13) from just nine days ago. The opening set went back and forth as both teams jockeyed for an early lead. Down 14-13, Messiah called a timeout before going on a 6-1 run to take a 19-15 lead. A timeout by Etown would not produce a similar result as the Falcons closed out the first set 25-20.
The second set would also see an exchange of leads, with Messiah capitalizing on a setter dump by junior Jess Geib to tie the set at 20-20. Senior middle hitter
Lindsay King would give the Falcons the lead with a block on the next point. Though Etown would side out to knot the game at 21-21, senior
Lauren Rees delivered two clutch kills in the final four points as Messiah won 25-23.
With their eye on finishing strong and sweeping the Blue Jays, Messiah opened the third set with great momentum. The Falcons would race out to a 17-10 lead, eventually closing out the match with a 25-19 decision.
“We knew Etown was going to be a tough competitor,” head coach
Judi Tobias commented. “We knew they were going to come in and throw a lot of different scenarios at us. We managed to play our game.”
Rees led the way for the Falcons with 17 kills while senior outside hitter
Megan Myers tied her season-high with 12 kills. Setter Jess Geib would anchor the Falcons' offense by dishing out 37 assists in the win.
Elizabethtown's Holly Bubb led all Blue Jay's with eight kills.
With the win, the Falcons will now travel to Owings Mills, Md., on Sunday, Nov. 4, to face No. 1 seed Stevenson University. The Mustangs (34-2, 9-0) were the only team to defeat Messiah in the Commonwealth this season, as they downed the Falcons in four sets (25-18, 23-25, 31-29, 25-20) in late September.
“We know what Stevenson is about,” commented Tobias, reflecting on Messiah's previous meeting with Stevenson. “We've grown a lot since then and I feel like we are peaking and coming together at a great time.”
Game time for Sunday's Commonwealth Championship is set for 2:00 p.m.
