The Lancaster Bible College Men's Volleyball team squared off against a familiar foe on Saturday night at the Horst Athletic Center, losing to the Messiah Falcons in three sets. The Chargers drop to 3-8 overall while the Falcons improve to 4-4 and sit number twenty nationally.

How It Happened: Both teams started the night off hot, trading one to two points and the lead. The Chargers went ahead late in the set 20-19 from kills by Nicholas Marion and Craig Patrick, but the Falcons responded with three of their own points to make it 22-20 Messiah. The Chargers battled back tying the game at 22-all on a kill from Jordan Yoder, but again the Falcons used a string of attacks to steal the first set 25-22.

The Falcons started the second set how they finished the first managing, to get ahead 6-2 on the Chargers. However, a 6-1 run fueled by a few kills from Marion, a couple blocks, and a Hunter Davis ace regained the lead 9-8. The two squads started to go point-for-point with the lead switching just the same. After tying the game at 12-12, the Falcons finished the second set on a 13-7 run to win their second set of the night 25-19.

Sensing the urgency, the Chargers kept pace with the Falcons tying the game at 7-7 on a kill from Davis. But an 8-2 run from Messiah pushed their lead to 15-9 late in the third set. The Chargers managed to put together a point or two at a time as they tried to chip away at the lead, but the Falcons proved too much offensively as they responded with a point or two of their own to win the third set 25-19 and the match 3-0.

By the Numbers: The Chargers racked up 30 kills to go along with six blocks, 29 assists, and 11 digs… the Falcons tallied 36 kills with seven blocks, 35 assists, and 25 digs… Yoder and Marion led the Chargers with 10 kills apiece… Patrick added six kills of his own… Davis had two aces and three blocks… Christian Herr dished out 28 assists… Ryan Givens had a game-high 13 kills for Messiah while Jacob Hamm tallied four blocks.

Up Next: The Chargers head to Stevenson on Wednesday, February 14 at 7:00 p.m.