Hall of Honor HomeGrantham, PA – As has become a Homecoming Weekend tradition at Messiah College, the Falcons released the Hall of Honor Induction Class for 2015. Three alumni student-athletes will be celebrated this year: women's volleyball player Karen (Sollenberger) Ackley, men's soccer player Matt Bills, and wrestler Andy Vogel.
The trio of alumni will be inducted at the Hall of Honor ceremony on Friday, Feb. 6, 2015 at the West Shore Country Club.
"It's hard to believe another year has passed, but it's not hard to believe that we have another group of tremendous alumni to celebrate," Director of Athletics
Jack Cole said. "Each year, we have an impressive group of nominations to sort through, and this year was no different.
"Karen, Matt, and Andy are deserving of this honor. They were tremendous student-athletes when they were at the College, and they're each tremendous persons. We're excited to recognize them."
Tickets for the 2015 Hall of Honor ceremony
can be reserved here.
Below is a brief bio on each inductee:
Karen (Sollenberger) Ackley '03 – Women's Volleyball Sollenberger was a four-time All-Conference setter for the Falcons, and the 1998 conference Rookie of the Year. She is still first all-time for Messiah in career assists (4,318) and holds both the first (1,385) and third (1,115) spots for most assists in a single-season. Sollenberger is also the Falcons' career leader in service aces (542), more than double the next closest person (245). Her four seasons are good for first (157), second (148), fourth (134), and fifth (103) in Messiah's single-season service aces records.
Sollenberger was the 1999 ace serve champion for all of the NCAA, and she also registered the only quadruple-double for any women's volleyball player in the 2000 season: 10 kills, 31 assists, 10 aces, and 13 digs (Oct. 7, 2000 against Allentown [DeSales] University).
Matt Bills '04 – Men's Soccer Bills was a three-time All-Commonwealth player for the Falcons, and was the Commonwealth Player of the Year in both 2002 and 2003. In each of those two seasons he was also First Team NSCAA All-Region and in 2002 was a Third Team All-American.
Bills was a member of both the 2000 and 2002 NCAA Division III National Championship teams, and is tied-first all-time in program history with 68 goals; Bills is tied atop the goals scored leaderboard with fellow Hall of Honor member Todd Suessmuth '90.
Andy Vogel '03 – Wrestling Vogel was a three-time All-Conference and All-American wrestler for the Falcons. He was the National Runner-Up in the 149 lb. weight class in 2001, and took seventh in both 2002 and 2003. He is currently one of only three Falcons ever with three different NCAA All-American finishes (Chris Roggie '00, Mike Helm '00).
Vogel is the Falcons' all-time wins leader with 157 victories, 37 ahead of Roggie's 120 wins. He is also the career leader in takedowns (422) and nearfalls (190), and holds the second (132) and third (121) spots for single-season takedowns and first (61), second (59), and fourth (50) spots for single-season nearfalls, respectively.
