ANNVILLE, Pa. – Earlier this season, Lebanon Valley defeated Messiah 3-0 in a deceptive sweep that was so evenly-matched, it could have gone the other way.  On Wednesday night, Nov. 5, that's exactly how it went.  In a rematch of a contest just three weeks prior, the Flying Dutchmen fell to the Falcons 3-0 at Sorrentino Gymnasium in the semifinal round of the Commonwealth Conference postseason tournament by set scores of 23-25, 15-25, and 18-25.

Following the loss, LVC will now await the release of the NCAA championship tournament field later this week to find out if they will be a part of the field or an ECAC participant next weekend. 

The first set saw a back-and-forth early portion followed by a 6-1 run that propelled the Dutchmen to their largest lead of the night at 16-10.  Messiah battled back and eventually tied the score at 17-17 before the home stretch saw the Falcons use back-to-back kills from Jane Underman and Kristen Douglas to end the set and nab an early 1-0 advantage.

Set number two began in a similar fashion as the opener but this time around it was the Falcons who used a mid-game run to open up a 20-11 advantage.  Unfortunately for the Blue and White, they were unable to overcome the deficit as they eventually dropped the set following three-straight kills by Underman and Hannah Baumer.

In the third set, the teams traded the lead three times before Messiah slowly opened up their advantage midway through the game.  Leading 10-9, the Falcons went on a 9-3 run that gave them some breathing room but the Dutchmen answered and cut the deficit to 20-17 during the service run of senior captain Kacey Musselman that included kills by juniors Alli Quirk and Emily Sides.  In the end however, Messiah put together and 5-1 stretch to take the match and advance to the Commonwealth Conference championship match on Saturday afternoon.

The Falcon defense was tough at the net all night long and didn't allow a single LVC player to reach the double-digit kill mark.  Senior captain Kayla Confer led the way with nine while Sides added eight.  Quirk tallied seven and sophomore Greta Weidemoyer managed six on the night. 

Junior libero Allie Garrett worked hard defensively and dug-out a match-high 23 Falcon attacks while Musselman and sophomore Rachel Moltz added 14 digs apiece.  Fellow sophomore Taylor Troutman recorded the Dutchmen's lone solo block while Quirk and Sides combined for the team's second stop.   Musselman assisted on 27 Lebanon Valley points.    

Following the hard-fought defeat, the Dutchmen are now forced to play the waiting game.  The NCAA tournament field will be set following the conference championships this weekend while ECAC matchups are announced on Monday, Nov. 10.