GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Stevenson University men's volleyball team split a pair of matches at a tri-match with nationally-ranked Messiah and Misericordia in Middle Atlantic Conference play on Saturday.
In the opener, fifth-ranked Messiah defeated the Mustangs 3-1. While in the nightcap, Stevenson (10-14, 5-3 MAC) blanked Misericordia, 3-0.
Game One
Stevenson opened the match by taking the first set 26-24, before Messiah won the next three 25-20, 25-23 and 25-22.
Tim Flanagan had a team-high 12 kills, with Ryan Thenell getting 11. Aidan O'Brien and Elliot De La Torre each had six.
Justin Novoa led the way with 35 assists, with Michael Dougherty netting seven digs.
De La Torre had three solo blocks, while assisting on three others.
Stevenson trailed 10-7 early before rallying to take a 17-16 on an attack error. Messiah would rally and take a 23-22 lead, before a Flanagan kills tied the score at 23-all.
At set point, Thenell had a kill to tie the score at 24-all, which was followed by a Messiah attack error and then a kill from O'Brien for the 26-24 first set final score.
In set two, Messiah led wire-to-wire, with Stevenson tying the score at 10-all on a block by De La Torre. That would be as close at the Mustangs would get as Messiah led by as much as eight.
In set three, Stevenson led 11-6 at one point, and went up 17-11 on a Messiah attack error. At that point, Messiah rallied on a 7-2 spurt to tie the score at 19-all and took the lead for good. Stevenson got within one at 24-23 on a kill by Flanagan but a block error gave the Falcons a 25-23 win.
In set four, Messiah pulled away late and fended off a late Mustang rally.
Game Two
Stevenson won by set scores of 25-14, 25-21 and 25-17.
Flanagan had 11 kills, with Jack Braverman having seven.
Novoa had 30 assists, with Dougherty having nine digs.
The Mustangs had a .397 hitting percentage going 35-8-68.
In set one, Stevenson took a 6-1 lead punctuated by a service ace by De La Torre. The lead ballooned to as much as nine at 22-13 and 23-14, before two Cougar attack errors make the final score in the first set 25-14.
In set two, Stevenson trailed 9-6 before rallying and going up 19-14 ending with a kill from O'Brien. Misericordia would get to within three at 23-20, before Thenell's kill ended the set with a 25-21 Stevenson win.
In set three, Stevenson led from the opening serve, going up by as much as seven.
Stevenson will take on Southern Virginia on Friday, before heading to Roanoke to take on the Maroons and Randolph-Macon.
