GRANTHAM, Pa. - Behind a breakout performance by freshman Elena Young (Hagerstown, Md. / South Hagerstown), Hood College nearly pushed undefeated Messiah to a decisive fifth set before falling 25-27, 25-21, 25-9, 25-21.

Young had a career-high 18 kills, along with just one error, and hit .447 for the match. Payton Belella (Smithsburg, Md. / Smithsburg) dished out 37 assists and Brenna Elizondo (Littleton, Colo. / Heritage) had 18 digs.

The Blazers jumped ahead 8-2 in the first set, but the Falcons battled their way back into the match to take a 23-21 lead. Kills by Kathryn Jones (Newfane, N.Y. / Newfane) and Belella helped Hood take a 24-23 advantage. After Messiah scored two straight points to reach its own set point at 25-24, kills by Young and Kari Betson (Frederick, Md. / Frederick) led the Blazers to the 27-25 win.

In the second set, the Falcons claimed an early 10-3 lead, but Hood battled back and trailed by just one, 18-17, after a Betson kill. Messiah managed to hold off the Blazers to even the match.

After a third set that was all Falcons, Hood nearly extended the match in the fourth set. The set featured three lead changes and nine ties as the teams battled back and forth before Messiah took the 25-21 victory.

Kristen Douglas led all players with 21 kills and had 18 digs. Brooke Gallagher dished out 41 assists. Jane Underman and Suzanne Harris each had four aces.

Messiah improved to 9-0 overall and 2-0 in the Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth, while the Blazers slid to 3-6 overall and 0-2 in the MAC Commonwealth.

Hood will look to get back into the win column with a tri-match at Gettysburg featuring Ursinus on Saturday, September 19.