The Misericordia University men's volleyball team moved into second place in the MAC with a 3-0 win over Messiah on Doc Mould Court, Tuesday.
 
The Cougars won 25-23, 25-22, 29-27 to improve to 19-8 overall and 5-1 in the MAC.
 
Jared Piontkowski led the Cougars with 17 kills and Zane Martin had seven kills and five blocks.
 
Gannon DeFrain had 31 assists.
 
The Cougars rallied from a 21-16 deficit to pull out a first set victory.
 
Piontkowski's right-side smash through a potential blocker and a Messiah error cut the margin to 21-18.
 
Messiah answered with a kill, but two straight Falcons' errors got the Cougars within 22-20.
 
Messiah went up 23-20, but DePalma and Piontkowski had back-to-back kills to get within a point.
 
Piontkowski's block on the right side tied the score, 23-23, and he and Martin teamed for a block in the same spot to give the Cougars their first lead, 24-23.
 
A Messiah attack error gave MU the decisive point.
 
The Cougars trailed throughout much of the second set before scoring three straight points to take a 17-15 lead.
 
Piontkowski had two kills and an ace as the Cougars built a 24-21 lead and Martin closed out a 25-22 with a smash down the middle.
 
In the third set, the Cougars took advantage of four Messiah attack errors to score six straight points to take a 16-12 lead.
 
Messiah rallied and eventually had three set-points. Down 26-25, Piontkowski had two kills and DeFrain closed the match with an ace as the Cougars scored four of the last five points.