SUNYIT box l Vassar box
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POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. -- Second-ranked Nazareth defeated SUNYIT and host Vassar Sunday at the second United Volleyball Conference crossover of the season. The Golden Flyers downed the Wildcats in three sets (25-18, 25-18, 25-19) and the Brewers in four sets (25-19, 25-23, 20-25, 25-16). Sophomore EJ Wells-Spicer recorded a match-high 45 assists and 10 digs in Nazareth's four-set victory over 14th-ranked Vassar.

After finishing the weekend with a 3-0 record at the UVC crossover, Nazareth remains undefeated in UVC matches with a 8-0 record and improves to 20-3 overall. The Wildcats are 9-11 overall and 2-6 in UVC matches. The Brewers drop to 16-9 overall and 3-3 in UVC contests after falling to the Golden Flyers.

In Nazareth's match against the Brewers, senior Hans Schroeder had a team-high 16 kills, and fellow-seniors Ellis Walsh and Brian Bunch each added nine kills. Sophomore Robert Kraft chipped in seven kills and a match-high three service aces. As a team, the Golden Flyers finished with a 9-2 advantage in service aces.

Nazareth controlled the match by converting at least half of their attempts into kills in the first, second, and fourth sets. The Golden Flyers' hitting percentage was .484 in the first set as Nazareth totaled 17 kills on 31 attempts, with only two errors. The Golden Flyers had a percentage of .250 (10 kills on 20 attempts) in the second set and a percentage of .333 (10 kills on 18 attempts) in the fourth set. After the fourth set was knotted 6-6, Nazareth pulled away with two aces by Bunch and two Vassar errors. The Golden Flyers maintained at least a four-point lead throughout the rest of the set and finished with a 5-1 run to seal the victory.

The Brewers held Nazareth to 13 kills on 36 attempts in the third set, and forced the Golden Flyers into making 11 attack errors. Vassar opened the third set with a 7-1 lead to force the match into the fourth set. Evan Fredricksen tried to keep the Brewers in the match as he recorded a match-high 20 kills.

In the Golden Flyers' match against SUNYIT, sophomore Alex Houghtalen finished with a match-high eight kills. Senior Patrick Ribec and junior Dan Miranda each tallied seven kills while Wells-Spicer accumulated a match-high 22 assists. Junior Sam Guba and sophomore Dan Mowery recorded 12 digs and six digs, respectively.

The Golden Flyers held the Wildcats to hitting percentages of .037 in the first set, .000 in the second set, and .136 in the third set to complete the sweep.

Nazareth travels to Hilbert Tuesday evening for its next match.