New Paltz box l Vassar box
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ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- The host Golden Flyers split their first two matches of the Nazareth Invitational, rebounding to defeat Vassar in four sets after dropping their first match to New Paltz in three-sets. The scores for the match against Vassar were 30-23, 30-23, 25-30, 30-20, and the scores for the match against New Paltz were 30-27, 30-21, 30-25 in favor of the Hawks. Freshman Robert Kraft had a team-high 16 kills and seven assisted blocks against Vassar.

Nazareth is now 3-6 overall after splitting their first two matches of the invitational. New Paltz improved to 7-4 with two victories in the invitational while the Brewers move to 6-4 after defeating Eastern Mennonite and falling to the Golden Flyers.

Against 10th-ranked Vassar, the 15th-ranked Golden Flyers used a balanced offensive attack to defeat the Brewers. Four players finished in double-digits in kills, led by Kraft's 16.  Juniors Chris Mendez and Hans Schroeder added 14 kills and 13 kills, respectively. Sophomore Billy Gimello finished with 12 kills and also added nine digs.

Freshman EJ Wells-Spicer set up most of Nazareth's attacks as he finished with a match-high 45 assists and a team-high 11 digs. Senior Kevin Kirchhoff chipped in with 12 assists. Nazareth won the first two sets with hitting percentages of .538 and .615. The Golden Flyers committed just 11 total attack errors while forcing the Brewers into 25 total attack errors.

Phil Tully had a match-high 19 kills for Vassar. Evan Fredericksen and Lucas Rathjens finished with 11 kills and eight kills, respectively. John Knonow had a team-high 41 assists while Christian La Du tallied a team-high 12 digs.

In the match against New Paltz, Gimello recorded a match-high 14 kills for the Golden Flyers. In addition to Gimello's kills, Schroeder finished the match with ten kills. Gimello also tallied three digs and one service ace. Freshman Dan Mowery had a team-high six digs, and junior Will Siwy recorded six total blocks for the Golden Flyers.

Jake Moore had a team-high 13 kills for the Hawks. Andrew Cassius tallied a match-high 34 assists and eight digs. Kevin Stross added nine kills for New Paltz.

The Golden Flyers continue play in the Nazareth Tournament with an 12 p.m. match against Eastern Mennonite Saturday afternoon.