MATCH SUMMARY l CUMULATIVE STATS
HOBOKEN, N.J. -- Nazareth fell to RIT in the Empire 8 semifinals hosted by Stevens Institute of Technology. The Tigers edged the Golden Flyers in five games winning by the scores of 33-31, 24-30, 30-22, 22-30, 15-12. Nazareth's record dropped to 26-11 overall after the loss.
Nazareth had two chances to win the first game as the Golden Flyers had leads of 29-28 and 31-30 after senior Elizabeth Tregan and sophomore Katelynn Reed each recorded kills. RIT won the next point both times and won the final three points to take a one-game lead.
The Golden Flyers and Tigers then traded the next three games to set up the fifth game tiebreaker. Reed gave Nazareth a 1-0 lead as she recorded her fifth ace of the game. The Golden Flyers extended their lead to two points on an RIT hitting error, but the Tigers rallied for seven consecutive points to take control of the game. Nazareth came within three points of tying the score four times but the Golden Flyers could only cut into that deficit once. Sophomore Hillary Adam recorded a block to cut RIT's lead to 14-12 but the Tigers won the next point to win the match.
Tregan recorded 11 digs and a match-high 21 kills while junior Laura Persico added 17 kills to lead Nazareth. Sophomore Carra Vanderstyne and Adam contributed 11 kills and 10 kills respectively to the Golden Flyers' attack. Sophomore Kate Zwickl recorded 51 assists and 13 digs while sophomore Mallorie Clary had 28 digs. Sophomore Natasha Villane added four aces and 14 digs for the Golden Flyers.