GRANTHAM, Pa. (Oct. 12, 2016) – The Widener University volleyball team fell to Messiah by a 3-0 decision on Wednesday evening at the Brubaker Auditorium. Set scores were 25-19, 25-16 and 25-13.
 
Widener (10-14, MAC Commonwealth 2-3) was competitive in the opening set and built up early leads of 4-1 and 6-2. Sophomore Janie Kalinock (Ellicott City, Md.) had two kills and senior Sabrina Barbieri (Glen Mills, Pa.) added two assists during the opening stretch to put the visitors in control. The Pride maintained their lead for most of the set until a service ace by Jessica Zellers followed by a Kristen Douglas kill gave the Falcons a 17-16 edge. Messiah maintained its lead and ended the frame with three unanswered, which was capped by a Brooke Gallagher kill to win the frame.
 
After surrendering the first point on an attacking error, Messiah regained control and built up an 11-7 advantage courtesy of two straight aces by Gallagher in the second set. Widener brought the deficit down to just two, but the Falcons recovered and ended the frame with five unanswered to win it by nine.
 
Messiah (19-4, MAC Commonwealth 4-1) then took the third set and the match thanks to hitting at a jaw-dropping .609 clip, which included smashing 15 kills and committing only one error on 23 swings. A Zellers ace made it 10-3 to prompt a Widener timeout, and the Falcons later ended the frame on a 7-2 run to come away with the win.
 
Kalinock registered a .389 hitting percentage and finshed with eight kills to pace Widener. Barbieri finished with 22 assists and six digs, while sophomore Nicole Dorman (East Norriton, Pa.) notched eight kills and five digs.
 
The Falcons were led by Gallagher, who notched a game-high 31 assists to go along with six digs, three kills and two aces. Jane Underman and Douglas contributed 14 and 11 kills, respectively, and Underman also had two blocks.
 
Widener next visits Cabrini for a non-conference matchup on Friday, Oct. 17 at 7:00 p.m.