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ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- After splitting their first two matches during day one of the Nazareth Invitational, the Golden Flyers went on to outlast Eastern Mennonite and Medaille Saturday in five sets apiece. Nazareth defeated the Royals by scores of 23-30, 27-30, 30-28, 30-28, 15-7 and the Mavericks by scores of 20-30, 30-28, 24-30, 30-26, 24-22.  Freshman EJ Wells-Spicer recorded 40 assists against Eastern Mennonite and 43 against Medaille.

With their wins over Eastern Mennonite and Medaille, Nazareth's overall record improves to 5-6. After the final matches Saturday, Eastern Mennonite and Medaille finished with a record of 2-4 and 10-4, respectively.

Against Medaille, freshman Robert Kraft added a team-high 16 kills. Sophomore Billy Gimello added 15 kills and junior Hans Schroeder had 14 kills. Gimello and Schroeder also contributed eight digs each. In addition to Kraft's 16 kills, he gained five service aces. Senior Kevin Kirchhoff added another 21 assists for Nazareth. Kraft and Schroeder represented Nazareth on the all-tournament team.

Even with Ryan Murdie's 22 kills and Nick Johnson's 18 kills, Medaille could not outlast the Golden Flyers. Ryan Maxwell's match-high 51 assists and Dan Jackson's nine digs helped the Mavericks to win the first and third sets over Nazareth.

After losing the first two sets to Eastern Mennonite's Royals, the Golden Flyers came back strong to win the remaining three sets. They trailed 26-19 and 27-21 in the fourth set before rallying to extend the match by winning 30-28. Gimello tallied a match-high 21 kills, while junior Schroeder added 13 kills, and junior Chris Mendez added another 10 kills. Freshman Dan Mowery contributed 14 digs to the win, while Kraft, Gimello, Mendez, and Schroeder each tallied three service aces. Also contributing to the win was Kirchhoff with 16 assists.

The Royals were led by John Barry who totalled a match-high of 41 assists and Cody Kennedy with a team-high 17 kills. Justin Reesor had 12 kills and Colten New had 10 kills. New also tallied 11 digs and two service aces.

The Golden Flyers are in action again next weekend when Nazareth travels to compete in the Vassar Tournament.