BOXSCORE |
CUMULATIVE STATSHOBOKEN, N.J. -- Junior Laura Persico had 11 kills and sophomore setter Kate Zwickl added 28 assists Thursday as Nazareth won its first-round match in the NCAA Division III New York Regional with a three-game sweep of Montclair State.
Nazareth won by scores of 30-19, 30-25, 30-23 to improve its overall record to 27-11. The Golden Flyers will play again Friday at Stevens Institute of Technology against Cortland at 4:30 p.m. Cortland defeated Russell Sage in three games in its first-round match. Nazareth has won two of three meetings with Cortland this season.
Against Montclair, Nazareth had little difficulty advancing. Sophomore Hillary Adam had three of her six kills in the first game and sophomore Mallorie Clary had seven of her 15 digs as Nazareth forged an early lead.
In the second game, Nazareth fell behind early by as many as four points, but rallied to win by five. Trailing 12-8 at one stage, Nazareth reeled off seven straight points to take the lead for good. Persico spearheaded the rally with three straight kills. Montclair closed to within 26-25 late in the game, but Nazareth closed it out by winning the last four points, the last coming on a service ace by Adam.
Nazareth also took control early in game three, cruising to an 11-4 advantage with the help of two kills by senior Elizabeth Tregan and two more aces by Adam, who totaled six for the match.
Tregan finished with eight kills against just one hitting error to go with four assists and three blocks. Adam had six kills and three blocks. Persico had 10 digs in addition to her 11 kills.