Baptist Bible Box | Wis-Oshkosh box
Tournament site
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Nazareth split a pair of matches Friday during the opening day of the Purple & Gold Invitational for women's volleyball at the Kidera Gymnasium. The Golden Flyers swept Baptist Bible in three sets in their first match, then lost a tough five-setter to Wisconsin-Oshkosh in the second match.

Against Baptist bible, scores were 25-21, 25-21, 25-15. Against Wisconsin-Oshkosh scores were 22-25, 25-18, 22-25, 25-21, 15-12.

Nazareth, 12-8 overall, plays two more matches Saturday -- vs. eighth-ranked Heidelberg at 11 a.m. and vs. Geneseo at 3 p.m.

In the Oshkosh match, Nazareth led two sets to one, before the Titans rallied to take the last two sets. In the fifth and deciding set, Oshkosh bolted to an 8-0 lead and the Golden Flyers couldn't recover, although they rallied to within 14-12. A kill by the Titans' Sarah Petermann ended the match.

Junior Amy Johnson had nine kills for Nazareth, while senior Leah Farrell and freshmen Maria Allocco and Chelsea Beecher each had eight kills. Juniior Aubrey Cooke totaled 33 assists. Oshkosh's Jordyn Bratel led all hitters with 12 kills. Robyn Eggert had 20 digs and had three of her five aces in the decisive fifth set.

Against Baptist Bible, Junior Johnson had nine kills and four digs and Allocco and Beecher each pounded out six kills. Junior setter Brittany Crocetti combined 28 assists with six digs. Senior Ashlee Travis and sophomore Christy Burczak each had four kills.