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ITHACA, N.Y. -- Second seed Nazareth fell to third seed Elmira in the Empire 8 women's volleyball semifinals, hosted by Ithaca College. The Soaring Eagles defeated the Golden Flyers in four sets (26-24, 21-25, 25- 23, 25-22). Graduate student Carra Vanderstyne finished the match with a team-high 12 kills and four service aces. Nazareth completes its season with an 18-20 overall record.

With the victory, Elmira (27-6 overall) advances to the 7 p.m. championship match against Ithaca (21-14 overall). The Bombers defeated fourth seed RIT in its semifinal match Friday. The winner of the Empire 8 tournament clinches a birth in the NCAA tournament.

In addition to the kills from Vanderstyne, junior Ashlee Travis tallied 11 kills and sophomores Aubrey Cooke and Amy Johnson added nine kills and six kills, respectively. Senior Megan Rogers had a match-high 30 digs while sophomore Brittany Crocetti accumulated a team-high 30 assists. The Golden Flyers finished with a 14-3 advantage in service aces as six players tallied at least one ace. Vanderstyne led the team with four service aces, followed by Cooke with three, Rogers, Johnson, and Kristi Custer with two aces apiece, and Travis with one ace.

Elmira's Brittany Raykoske and Sasha Zavadska combined to record 39 kills and just 10 errors to lead the Soaring Eagles to the victory. Raykoske had a match-high 21 kills on 41 attempts while Zavadska finished with 18 kills on 56 attempts. Tesia Kaczynski tallied a match-high 49 assists and a team-high 18 digs. Taryn Rumsey added 16 digs. Zavadska also chipped in 14 digs.

The Soaring Eagles' finished with a higher attack percentage in each set to overcome Nazareth's strong serving. Elmira had an advantage of .196 to .078 in the first set, .250 to .171 in the second set, .250 to .158 in the third set, and .183 to .137 in the fourth set. After the match, the Golden Flyers' coach, Cal Wickens, said, "Elmira executed just a little bit better. We played a little softer today."

At the second Empire 8 cross-over, October 23rd, the Golden Flyers defeated the Soaring Eagles in four sets (27-25, 25-14, 23-25, 25-23) to earn the second seed for the tournament. Despite the loss to Elmira in the E8 tournament Friday afternoon, there is optimism surrounding the team as players continue to develop. Ten of Nazareth's 13 players are freshmen, sophomores, or juniors. Vanderstyne returned to the team as a graduate student after injuring her knee during the 2009 season. Rogers and Custer are the only seniors on the Golden Flyers' roster.