GRANTHAM, Pa.– After a slow start in the opening set, Eastern University Men's Volleyball pushed the host Messiah College Falcons before falling in three sets. The Eagles (4-2, 0-2 MAC) led by as many as four points late in the final set before Messiah closed out the match with five of the final six points.
Darren Lopez led the Eagles with ten kills.
Out of the gate, the Eagles struggled in serve-receive and fell behind 8-1 as the bigger Falcons took advantage of overpasses, free balls, and the predictable attacks that are the result of struggles in serve-receive. A run of side-outs late enabled Eastern to finish the opening set with a little momentum despite hitting .000 and falling 25-12. The Eagles earned side-outs on five of the final six Messiah serves in the set.
The Falcons (6-4, 3-0 MAC) jumped to an early advantage in the second, but
Cameron Parsons put together a run of three service points in a row to pull the Eagles within five points and 16-11. The Eagles found their side-out game and began to chip away at the Messiah lead with a service point from
Noah Westbrook and three points from
Nicholas Hulbert.
Hulbert's run of aggressive serves included an ace and closed the Messiah Lead to 21-19 in the frame. The Falcons scored four of the final five points in the frame for a 25-20 win and a 2-0 lead. Lopez had five kills in the set and the Eagles hit .324 with 14 kills.
Messiah scored the first two points of the third, but the Eagles grabbed a 4-3 lead with Parsons at the service line. The Eastern passing continued to improve and Parsons was able to find his hitters for kills or aggressive swings that put the Falcons out-of-system. Eastern led 14-10 before the Falcons earned a side-out and two points on serve to close the gap to 14-13. The second point on serve came on an ace that crawled off the tape.
After the teams traded side-outs, the Eagles rebuilt the four-point lead with Westbrook at the service line.
Anthony Smith delivered a big solo block for an 18-14 edge. The Falcons responded and cut the lead back to a point with two points on serve.
The teams then traded-side-outs to 22-21. Messiah earned a pair of points on serve to lead 23-22 to force an Eastern time-out. The Eagles got a side-out on a service error, but the Falcons were able to pass a tough serve from Lopez and side-out to earn a match point. The Eagles finished with nine kills and six errors in the final set and hit .177 for the match. The Falcons hit .347 and picked up 29 digs in the match.
Parsons finished with 23 assists and a block. Matt Knab led the Falcons with 13 kills and three aces.
Eastern only has a couple days to recover before playing a MAC tri-match at Misericordia on Friday. The Eagles will take on the host Cougars and play against Stevenson. Misericordia's men are 1-2 in the league. They lost to Messiah and Arcadia and swept Widener. Stevenson is ranked No. 7 in the country, but they lost to Arcadia on Saturday.
