Grantham, Pa. (Oct. 19, 2022) - Alvernia University (9-11, 1-5) dropped a MAC Commonwealth match to Messiah University (18-6, 4-2) in a 3-0 decision on Wednesday night in women's volleyball action at Messiah.

The Falcons took the three set match with 25-18, 25-22, and 25-16 set decisions.

The Golden Wolves led the Falcons 5-4 early in set one, with early kills from Rachel Sipling and service errors by the Falcons accounting for four of Alvernia's first five points. The Falcons then scored four straight to take the lead, 8-5, and pushed it to 11-7 just a few points later.

Alvernia cut it to a two point deficit, 12-10, on a kill by Molly Gaffney, but Messiah then rattled off six straight points to take an 18-10 lead.

The Golden Wolves got back within five on an attack error by Messiah to make it 20-15, but Messiah kept Alvernia from getting any closer as the Falcons took the first set 25-18.

Alvernia led the second set 17-11 over halfway through, but Messiah began chipping away with a quick 3-0 run to get within three, 17-14. A kill by Sipling stopped the brief run, but Messiah then scored seven of the next nine points to take the lead, 21-20. A kill by Juliana McGlne followed by a Jordan Thompson service ace gave Alvernia back the lead, 22-21, but Messiah scored the final four points of the set to take the second set 25-22.

After Alvernia scored the opening point of the third set on an attack error by the Falcons, Messiah scored the next straight points to take a 6-1 lead and never looked back. The Falcons went on to lead by as much as 11, 24-13. The Golden Wolves held off match point three times with a kill from McGlone, a Messiah ball handling error, and a block by Allie Evangelista and Sipling. A service error by Alvernia gave the Falcons its match point to take the third set, 25-16, and match, 3-0.

Sipling led Alvernia with 12 kills on 29 attacks with eight digs. Gaffney finished with 14 assists.

The Golden Wolves are back in action at the Cabrini tri-match this weekend.a