Box l Springfield/Baruch box
Tournament site l Updated stats
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Second-seeded Nazareth defeated third-seeded Carthage in five sets (25-14, 18-25, 27-29, 28-26, 15-11) in the second semifinal of the 2011 Molten Division III Men's Invitational Volleyball Championship, hosted by Nazareth College. Senior #Hans Schroeder# finished with 18 kills with just three hitting errors. The Golden Flyers will face first-seed Springfield in the Molten finals Saturday evening at 8 p.m.

With the victory, Nazareth, tied for first with Springfield in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, improves to 30-3 overall. The Golden Flyers also improve to 8-0 in five-set matches. The Redmen, ranked fourth in the AVCA poll, fall to 22-11 following the loss. Carthage will take on fourth-seeded Baruch in Saturday's consolation match, which will start at 5 p.m.

The Golden Flyers rallied after trailing two sets to one and 23-20 in the fourth set. A kill by Schroeder, a hitting error by Carthage's Tom O'Connell, and an assisted block by sophomores #Robert Kraft# and #EJ Wells-Spicer# tied the match, 23-23. Kraft and Wells-Spicer combined for consecutive blocks on the ensuing point to put Nazareth ahead 24-23. After trading points, the Redmen committed a service error and a hitting error to give the Golden Flyers the 28-26 victory.

In the fifth set, Nazareth surged to a 3-1 lead following kills by senior #Ellis Walsh#, Wells-Spicer, and a hitting error Carthage. The Golden Flyers stretched their lead to four points after forcing another error by O'Connell. The Redmen cut Nazareth's advantage to 10-8, but the Golden Flyers secured the victory with five of the final six points. Nazareth pounded out 12 kills in 17 attempts and zero errors during the decisive set to finish the set with a .706 hitting percentage. Wells-Spicer totaled 12 assists as Schroeder and Kraft each tallied four kills, and junior #Billy Gimello# and senior #Brian Bunch# recorded three kills and one kill, respectively.

The Golden Flyers controlled the first set with a hitting percentage of .417 and forcing the Redmen into a hitting percentage of -.100. Nazareth's defense finished with a 13-5.5 advantage in blocks over the course of the match. Kraft had a match-high six total blocks while senior #Will Siwy# and Walsh tallied five total blocks apiece.

In the second set, Carthage had the efficient attack as the Redmen recorded a .500 hitting percentage with 16 and only three errors. Nazareth was held to a percentage of .219, which provided Carthage with the opportunity to pull away and even the match.

In the third set, each team had set point opportunities, with the Redmen eventually prevailing, 29-27, following two consecutive Nazareth errors. As in the fourth set, Carthage had a multiple-point lead, 23-19, but the relentless Golden Flyers rallied. Kills by Siwy, two by Schroeder, and errors by the Redmen brought Nazareth back into the match temporarily.

Gimello joined Schroeder with 18 kills, followed by Kraft, who tallied 13 kills. Siwy and Walsh added seven kills and six kills, respectively. Wells-Spicer finished with a match-high 61 assists while Gimello and sophomore libero #Dan Mowery# tallied 10 digs each.

Carthage's balanced attack was effective for much of the match. Four Redmen finished in double-figures in kills. O'Connell had 18 kills, followed by Randy Hansen with 15, Matt Yanz with 12, and Tyler Frings with 10. Connor Wexter finished the match with 56 assists while Mike Bynon had 12 digs.

In the first semifinal, Springfield defeated fourth-seed Baruch in four sets (25-20, 25-20, 22-25, 25-17). With the victory, Springfield improves to 16-13 overall. The Bearcats, ranked sixth in the AVCA poll, drop to 34-15 overall.

Alberto Bravo and Mike Pelletier had 17 kills and 13 kills, respectively for the Pride. Bravo also finished with a match-high nine digs. Cal Palumbo chipped in 10 kills while Mike Becker finished with 44 assists. Springfield finished with hitting percentages of .333 in the first set, .423 in the second set, and .542 in the fourth set. In the lone set that the Pride dropped, Baruch held Springfield to a hitting percentage of .071.

Eryk Kowalski finished with a team-high 16 kills for the Bearcats while Pablo Oliveira added 12 kills. Oliveira also had eight digs and four assists. Jesus Echevarria tallied 33 assists for Baruch.