ALLIANCE, Ohio—The Mount Union men's volleyball team fell in a five-set thriller, 15-25, 25-18, 25-14, 17-25 and 9-15, to No. 9 nationally ranked Messiah Thursday night at the McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex.
 
The Purple Raiders (2-1) was led by Andrew Cross (St. Louis, Mo. / St. Louis University High) with nine kills on just 14 attempts for a .643 hitting percentage.
 
Sophomores Will Heeney (Hudson / Walsh Jesuit) finished with 26 assists and four digs while Aaron Armour (Waukesha, Wis. / Catholic Memorial) and senior Cameron Ternent (Canal Fulton / Massillon Jackson) finished with a team high seven digs.
 
Freshman Michael Bowler (Broadview Heights / Brecksville-Broadview Heights) led Mount Union in blocks with three solo and two assisted while senior Luke Trzeciak (Cranberry, Pa. / Seneca Valley) had one solo and three assisted.
 
Messiah (2-0) was led by Mason Nissley who had 25 kills and six digs.
 
The first set went the way of Messiah as they had 12 kills just to three errors while Mount Union had just four kills with six errors to end the set 25-15.
 
Set two flipped the script and went to Mount Union with eight kills and five errors while Messiah also had eight kills but 11 errors for a Raider set win of 25-18.
 
Mount Union stayed hot in the third set having 10 kills with just one hitting error while Messiah had 11 kills and 12 errors for a 25-14 Mount Union set win.
 
The fourth set Messiah found its footing having 13 kills with four errors while Mount Union had just five kills and five errors with Messiah winning the set 25-17.
 
The final set Messiah was red hot hitting 10 kills and no errors while Mount Union hit well with six kills and just three errors, but Messiah took the set and the win 15-9.
 
Mount Union now has a short turn around as they host the Raider Rumble as it welcomes Illinois Tech, Thiel and Mount St. Joseph with games on Friday and Saturday. The Raiders will take on Illinois Tech on Friday at 7 p.m. and Thiel on Saturday at 2 p.m.