2/21/26
MECHANICSBURG, Pa. — #11 Southern Virginia arrived at Hitchcock Arena on Saturday with a 14-2 record, a CVC title to defend, and presumably some confidence. #8 Messiah had other plans. The Falcons took down the Knights 3-1 (25-17, 24-26, 25-21, 25-22) before 346 fans on Jordan Court, improving to 13-2 on the season and sending a politely aggressive message to everyone else in Division III men’s volleyball.
The match produced 26 tie scores and 10 lead changes across four sets, which is the kind of scoreline that makes volleyball look easy and scorekeepers look exhausted. Position was conceded and reclaimed all afternoon. Messiah simply held it at the end.
The Falcons’ Formula: McConnell, Kagoro, and a Block Party
Messiah did not win this match with one weapon. They won it with several, which is the more annoying kind of team to prepare for.
Tyler McConnell was the most efficient player on the floor, finishing with 14 kills on 26 attempts for a .385 hitting percentage, adding three solo blocks, one ace and five digs. He was the kind of player who quietly accumulates a box score line that only becomes alarming once you total it up. Alex Kagoro led all players with 18 kills, though he did so on 36 attempts at .222, which speaks more to how hard both defenses were working than any inefficiency on Kagoro’s part. Ethan Earhart added four total blocks, and Todd Snyder contributed four blocks of his own, giving the Falcons eight total blocks as a team. Southern Virginia managed just two. The net was not a friendly place for the Knights on Saturday.
Brandon Sharp ran the Messiah offense with 40 assists, while Tyler Good provided six kills, nine digs and a .333 hitting clip from the back row. Aidan Dunwoody quietly logged seven digs to anchor the defensive unit.
Set by Set
Messiah opened the match with the most convincing set of the afternoon, holding Southern Virginia to a .045 hitting percentage in the first on the way to a 25-17 win. The Knights hit 8-7-22 in the opener, meaning they spent most of the set arguing with their own offense. Messiah hit .474 in that same set. It was not close.
Southern Virginia showed it had not made the trip to Pennsylvania just to be swept, coming back to take the second set 26-24 in a tighter exchange that featured eight tie scores and four lead changes. The Knights hit .167 in the second while Messiah dipped to .080, and the set went back and forth before Southern Virginia finally grabbed it.
The third set returned to the Falcons, 25-21, despite another competitive stretch with six ties and one lead change. Messiah hit .258, Southern Virginia .107. The pattern of the match was becoming clear: the Falcons were the more consistent team, and consistency tends to win four-set matches.
In the fourth, with eight tie scores and three lead changes, Southern Virginia made one more push to force a fifth. It came up short. Messiah closed it 25-22, hitting .190 on the final frame, good enough to put the Knights on the bus back to Virginia.
By the Numbers
Southern Virginia hit .145 for the match on 48 kills in 117 attempts. Tommy Forese led the Knights with 16 kills, though he did so on 38 attempts at .184, a workload that reflects how much Southern Va. leaned on him to generate offense. Jason Wang added nine kills at .375, and Brady Dastrup contributed ten kills while battling a .083 hitting percentage on 24 attempts. Gehrig Tolman ran the offense with 37 assists.
Messiah hit .240 as a team on 43 kills in 96 attempts. The Falcons’ 8-block performance against a team that ranks near the top of Division III is the kind of defensive statement that gets remembered come tournament time.
Up Next
Messiah will look to carry this momentum forward as conference play heats up. For Southern Virginia, there is film to watch and a .145 hitting night to answer for. The season is long, but losses to quality opponents in February have a way of being instructive.