ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa.-- The Elizabethtown men's volleyball fought hard, Tuesday evening inside Thompson Gymnasium against No. 15 Messiah, but ultimately fell, 3-1 after taking set one, 27-25. 

Senior setter, Nate Seeger surpassed 1000 career-assists with his 16th assist on the evening. Seeger sits in second in Etown program history in career-assists with 1,032. 

Logan Smith led the match with 20 kills (.333) and six digs while Alex Finch made his debut with ten kills, two blocks, and four digs. Nick Chapman totaled eight kills while Seeger tallied a season-high 48 assists. 

The first set started in a back and forth fashion as Smith, Chapman, and Mason Boyer added kills. Two Messiah kills brought the Falcons out to a 12-9 lead and after two Messiah errors the set was tied at 14-14. The two teams went point for point before the Blue Jays rattled off five straight to take a 23-19 lead. The Falcons then responded with five straight of their own. Cody Boyer smacked down a kill, tying up the set 24-24 before Etown made a service error. Two Falcon errors followed by a Finch kill ended the set, 27-25. 

Set two started tight just like set one as kills from C. Boyer and Finch brought Etown out in front, 9-6. The Blue Jays then jumped to a 13-7 lead following four consecutive points. Two straight Smith kills and a Messiah error kept Etown in the lead at 16-11. The Falcons then went on a 7-1 run to go up by two points and then continue their lead to win set two, 25-22. 

Set three saw Messiah jump out to a 6-3 early lead. For the next several points the two teams went back and forth before a kill from Finch, Smith and an ace from C.Boyer brought Etown within two of Messiah at 18-16. The teams again traded points before the Falcons tallied three in a row to extend their lead. Two Falcon errors gave the Blue Jays some relief before Messiah won set three, 25-21. 

Messiah started off set four with three straight kills to come out to a 3-1 lead. A kill from Chapman and two Falcon errors tied up the set, 7-7. After trading points, Chapman, Smith and C.Boyer added kills to trail just 14-15. Messiah gained some momentum taking the next three points before the Blue Jays tied up the set 19-19 after four straight points. Messiah then responded with four straight and ended the set 25-21. 

Elizabethtown will travel to Hood this Saturday, February 3 to compete in a tri-match with Neumann starting at 10AM.