By: Courtesy of Messiah Athletic Communications

LEXINGTON, Va. – The No. 8 Messiah Men's Volleyball team traveled to Lexington, Va. to compete in the Second Round of the NCAA DIII Men's Volleyball National Tournament hosted by Southern Virginia University on the campus of Washington & Lee. The Falcons faced the Lancaster Bible College Chargers on Friday night. After dropping set one with a score of 28-26, the Falcons came back to win three straight with scores of 25-20, 25-21, 25-18 to take the match 3-1 and advance to the Elite Eight match to take place against host Southern Virginia on Saturday, April 19 at 6:30 p.m. at Washington & Lee.

Set One
In the opening set of an early season match-up, the Falcons and Chargers were back-and-forth on the court. Messiah scored the opening point when Brandon Sharp connected with Tyler McConnell for the kill. Sharp added a kill from Alex Kagoro to take a 2-1 lead before the Chargers scored a pair. Ryan Givens leveled it at 3-3 with a kill before the Chargers took four of the next five points to take a 7-4 lead. After trading service aces, the Falcons notched three kills from Todd Snyder, Givens, and McConnell as the Chargers picked up a block and the score came to 9-8 in favor of Lancaster Bible. Messiah took an 11-10 lead with a pair of errors from LBC and a block from Kagoro and Givens. Ryan Givens added a kill, but the Chargers scored five of the next seven to take a 15-13 lead as the Falcons called a timeout. Todd Snyder notched a pair of kills to bring the score to 15-15 out of the timeout. Messiah held a 19-18 lead after an ace for Snyder and kills from Jacob Hamm and Kagoro. The score was tied 21-21 as Givens and Kagoro each added another kill, and the Chargers added a pair of their own. The Falcons then took a 24-23 lead with a block for Alex Kagoro and Todd Snyder, a kill from Jacob Hamm, and a block by Tyler McConnell as Lancaster Bible College called a timeout. The teams traded kills before the Chargers scored a pair to take a 26-25 lead. A kill for Brandon Sharp from Seth Graybill brought the score to 26-26 before a block and kill gave the Chargers a 28-26 win in set one.

Set Two
Lancaster Bible College looked to continue their momentum in set two as they claimed the first point of the second set. Conner Stauffer then found Brandon Sharp for the early leveling of the score at 1-1. Ryan Givens notched a service ace as the teams brought the score to 3-3. The Falcons scored six of the next eight with Jacob Hamm and Tyler McConnell notching kills, Givens and McConnell combining for a block and Todd Snyder adding a service ace from the line to give the Falcons a 9-5 lead. Hamm and Kagoro added kills from Brandon Sharp before a service ace for Tyler McConnell and an error from the Chargers extended the Messiah led to 13-7 and forced LBC to call a timeout. After trading service errors, the Falcons scored three of the next four on a Chargers' error and kills from Kagoro and Jacob Hamm. The Chargers scored seven of the next eight to cut the Messiah lead to two, forcing Head Coach Justin Beachy to use a timeout. The play became more even as Brandon Sharp connected with Jacob Hamm and Ryan Givens picked up a solo block as Messiah extended their lead back to three and the Chargers used a timeout. Sharp picked up a solo block and the Chargers had an attack error to bring the score to 23-19 in favor of Messiah. The teams traded the final points as Brandon Sharp connected with Ryan Givens to take set two 25-20 and tie the match 1-1.

Set Three
After the Chargers opened set three with a service ace, Messiah scored four straight with Brandon Sharp connecting with Ryan Givens, Seth Graybill notching a service ace, and Tyler McConnell picking up a pair of kills. A Chargers kill was followed with kills from Alex Kagoro and Sharp. A pair for the Chargers cut the lead to two before the teams started trading points. Kagoro picked up a pair of kills and Jacob Hamm added one as the score came to 9-7 in favor of Messiah. The Chargers scored three straight before Sharp connected with Hamm to tie the score 10-10. LBC took a 13-13 lead before Messiah tallied three with a pair of errors for the Chargers and a kill for Kagoro brought the score to 15-13 and Lancaster Bible took a timeout. Messiah scored three more on a pair of Chargers' errors and a block from Brandon Sharp and Ryan Givens to take an 18-13 lead before a media timeout. Out of the break, Sharp connected with Givens for the kill before the Chargers scored a pair. Givens and Kagoro each picked up kills and a service error for the Chargers gave Messiah the 22-17 lead as LBC used their second timeout. The timeout proved effective as the Chargers took the next three points. Sharp then connected with Hamm and an error for the Chargers brought it to set point for Messiah at 24-20. A kill for the Chargers wasn't enough as Brandon Sharp again connected with Jacob Hamm to take set three 25-21 and take a 2-1 lead in the match.

Set Four
The Falcons came out hot in set four, taking four straight points with a pair of errors from LBC and a block for Brandon Sharp, Ryan Givens, and Tyler McConnell before a solo block for McConnell. The Chargers called a timeout and the Falcons took two after with a block from Sharp and Givens and a kill for Alex Kagoro to take a 6-0 lead. The Chargers cut the deficit to four as Messiah held an 8-4 lead after Sharp added a kill and the Chargers had a service error. Sharp connected with Kagoro before a service error for the Chargers and a block from Jacob Hamm and Todd Snyder brought the Messiah lead to 12-7. The teams traded kills over the next six points with McConnell notching a pair from Sharp and Kagoro added one from Conner Stauffer with the score coming to 15-10. An error from the Chargers and a block from Sharp and Givens brought the lead to 17-10 with the Chargers taking a timeout. Brandon Sharp and Todd Snyder each notched kills and a pair of errors from the Chargers brought the score to 21-12. The Chargers scored four of the next five as the score came to 22-16. Sharp connected with Todd Snyder to bring the score to 23-16. A pair of points for the Chargers made it 23-18. After a service error for the Chargers, a block for Tyler McConnell and Jake Eby gave Messiah the 25-18 set win and the 3-1 win to advance to the National Quarterfinal against host Southern Virginia at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 18.

Stats
Alex Kagoro led the Falcons with 12 kills with Jacob Hamm adding 10. Brandon Sharp dished out 39 assists while hitting .857 with six kills on seven attempts. Ryan Givens hit .667 with nine kills, a service ace, and seven blocks. Tyler McConnell and Sharp each added five blocks.

Up Next
With the win, the Falcons advance to the Elite Eight match to take place against host Southern Virginia on Saturday, April 19 at 6:30 p.m. at Washington & Lee.