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ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Nazareth split a pair of women's volleyball matches Saturday at the New York State Regional Challenge hosted by RIT. The Golden Flyers, now 27-8 overall, quickly disposed of Brockport in three sets in their first match 25-22, 25-14, 25-16. In their second match, the Golden Flyers won the first two sets against New York University, then eventually lost in five in a match that took two and a half hours. NYU won by scores of 21-25, 19-25, 25-17, 25-22, 24-22.

The Golden Flyers play two more matches Sunday -- at 10 a.m. vs. Ithaca and 3 p.m. vs. RIT.

Nazareth won the first two sets against the Violets, but was unable to win a third set to take the match. The fifth set, typically to 15 points, continued because neither team was able to create a two-point margin for victory until NYU recorded its 24th point. The Golden Flyers were looking to avenge a three-set loss that Nazareth suffered at the hands of the Violets in September at the RIT Tournament.

In the fifth game, NYU had leads of 10-5 and 14-12, but couldn't close out the Flyers. Consecutive kills by Laura Persico tied the score at 14 and the lead see-sawed back and forth until NYU scored the last three points to prevail.

Freshman Audrey Zimmerman led the Golden Flyers with a team-high 21 kills against NYU. Persico added 14 kills and eight digs while junior Mallorie Clary finished with a team-high 23 digs.

Freshman Elizabeth Fisler also had a strong game as she amassed 11 kills and a team-high seven blocks. Junior Kate Zwickl finished with 55 assists and eight digs as Nazareth's primary setter.

In the match against Brockport, Persico tallied 11 kills and six digs for the Golden Flyers. Clary and Zwickl also played well against the Golden Eagles. Clary finished with 17 digs while Zwickl finished with 26 assists and six digs. As a team, Nazareth finished with 32 kills against just six hitting errors for a .391 hitting percentage.