Grantham, Pa. (March 24, 2021) - Alvernia University (6-5, 6-5) took down #14  Messiah University (11-2, 11-2)  in five sets on Wednesday night in MAC Men's Volleyball action at Messiah.

The teams traded wins in the first four sets before Alvernia took the decisive fifth set 15-12.

Alvernia took set one of the night after battling back from a 17-13 deficit midway through the set. After Alvernia cut Messiah's lead to 21-19, the Golden Wolves scored four straight to go up 23-21. Messiah then tied it at 23-23, and again at 24-24 after a service error by the Falcons. Alvernia took the 25-24 set lead on a kill by Tyler Anderson and finished it off block by Logan McGinley, Brian Rea, and Mike Monczewski for set point and the 26-24 set one win.

The Falcons responded in set two with a wire-to-wire 25-20 set win. Messiah scored the opening point of the set on a kill by Matt Knab. Alvernia came within one point multiple times in the set, but would be unable to take the lead as Messiah closed out the 25-20 set win with a kill by Jared Keul. 

Alvernia got off to a quick start in set three, jumping out to a 5-2 lead early on a ball handling error by the Falcons. After Alvernia went up by three, 12-9, Messiah scored four straight to take a 13-12 lead. The teams traded the lead, and Alvernia seemed to be getting into a rhythm and pulling away after going up 19-16. But, Messiah wouldn't go down without a fight, scoring five straight to go up 21-19. With Messiah leading 22-20, Alvernia would score five of the final six points of the set to take the 25-23 set win and go up 2-1 on the match.

In set four of the evening, Messiah and Alvernia were once again locked in a close one, with Messiah narrowly leading Alvernia, 18-17. Once again, Messiah pulled together a late string run, this time going on a 6-1 run, to pull away from Alvernia at 24-18. Alvernia scored on two of Messiah's set points, but the Falcons were able to close out set four on a service error by Alvernia's Josh Stewart to tie the match up at 2-2 and force a fifth set.

In the fifth set of the match, Alvernia and Messiah traded points up to a 6-6 tie. Alvernia was then able to string off back-to-back points behind kills from Monczewski and de Avila to give Alvernia a bit of a buffer at 8-6. But, Messiah responded, scoring it's first set of back-to-back points of the set to lock it up at 8-8. Alvernia bounced back with three straight points to push it to an 11-8 advantage. Messiah wouldn't be able to make up for the deficit as the Golden Wolves and the Falcons traded points the rest of the way. Alvernia faced a 14-12 match point and sealed the win on a kill from McGinley.

De Avila led Alvernia with 13 kills on 19 attacks for a .632 attack percentage. Tyler Anderson finished with a team-high 20 kills and eight digs. Brian Rea led Alvernia with nine blocks. 

Alvernia returns to action this Saturday hosting Stevens in a Saturday doubleheader before hosting Messiah to close out the season series on Wednesday.