(boxscore)

Widener clinched a spot in the Commonwealth Conference Tournament, but its chance of a high seed was dealt a crushing blow with a 3-2 loss (25-16, 19-25, 25-22, 27-29, 12-15) to Messiah at Schwartz Center.

Sophomore Jamie Ballew (Media, PA) had 30 assists with senior Danielle Wetling (Upper Darby, PA) and sophomore Nicole Merton (Media, PA) posting nine kills apiece for Widener (18-13, 4-2 CC).  Senior Duong Lau (Upper Darby, PA) and freshman Chelsea Hoeffler (Cranford, NJ) recorded 10 digs each.

Lauren Rees had 14 kills and 13 digs for the Falcons (12-12, 4-2), who owned a 56-36 kills edge  Ann Reck posted 16 kills, Brynn Lettieri recorded 11 and Lauren Bourdon totaled 47 assists.

Megan Wise had 26 digs and Jessica Gould had 10 for Messiah.

Widener falls into a third-place tie with Messiah, but qualified for the league tournament with Arcadia's victory tonight over Lycoming.

Widener on Thursday visits Rowan for a 7:00 pm start in Glassboro, NJ.