Messiah Dominates at Mid Atlantic Conference Championships!  The Messiah Men’s Volleyball team traveled to Desales Universityon Saturday, March 31, to battle all day for the coveted MAC Championship.  Messiah entered the tournament seeded second after being upset earlier the same week by Temple University who pulled of a win in five games.         Messiah’s first round pool included Millersville University, Lock Haven University, and Lehigh University.  The first match of the day was decided in two games as Messiah definitively outplayed their tough conference rival Millersville, 25-23, 25-17.  Though sometimes slow to start the Falcons worked into a rhythm and pounded away.  Lock Haven, 25-21, 25-20, and Lehigh, 25-17 , 25-15,  were similarly beaten in two games with even greater efficiency, placing Messiah at the top of their pool putting them into the quarterfinals.          The quarterfinal match was against familiar conference opponents West Chester University, who Messiah eliminated in two tough games, 25-20, 25-16.  Next in line was undefeated Rowan University who posed very little threat to the Falcons.  Messiah was victorious in two games, though out-sized, they won by way of a potent attack and solid defense, beating Rowan, 25-17, 25-16.      The Falcons entered the conference final match with plenty of determination to defend their 2006 MAC title.  Another motivating factor which contributed to the intensity of this match was that Temple University was the Falcons final opponent.  The same team which provided the upset five days earlier needed no introduction and the Messiah team was anxious to take care of business.  The first half of the game rallied with a series of long, hard-fought rallies, and many  side-outs which brought the teams even at thirteen.  Then the Falcons began to roll scoring multiple runs of three points, but with Temple still fighting for each point. Messiah ended up pulling away for an solid win with a first game score of 25-20.  The second game had a similar progression, but as Messiah sought to close the game, Temple made a resurgent effort and advanced to their twentieth point before Messiah closed the game with the twenty-fifth. The Falcons, who stepped up their level of play, dominated the tough competition all day as they emerged with an undefeated tournament record of 12-0, and their second consecutive conference title.     The Falcons also named two of their own to the MAC All-Conference Team. Sophomore Jeff Hackman and Sophomore Captain Luke Reichel were selected with these honors for their efforts over the season as well as their performance during the conference championships.     The Messiah Men's Volleyball team looks to carry this momentum with them as they travel to Louisville Kentucky for the NIRSA National Championships April 11-14. The Falcons look to better their 5th place finish from a year ago.