Stevens box l SUNYIT box
Updated stats l Crossover site
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Seventh-ranked Nazareth fell to eighth-ranked Stevens in four sets Sunday morning before knocking off SUNYIT in the Golden Flyers' afternoon match at the United Volleyball Conference crossover, hosted by Nazareth College. The scores of the match against SUNYIT were 25-14, 25-12, 25-13. Against Stevens, the scores were 25-22, 22-25, 25-23, 25-21.

At the conclusion of the weekend, Nazareth stood at to 17-6 overall and 7-3 in conference matches. The Ducks improved to 16-3 overall and are 9-1 in UVC contests following their matches. SUNYIT dropped to 2-16 overall and 0-10 in UVC matches.

In the afternoon match against SUNYIT, freshman Luke Latwatsch (Penfield/Penfield, NY) recorded a team-high seven kills, followed by junior Dan Mowery (Midlakes/Phelps, NY) who had six kills. Senior Sam Guba (Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake/Ballston Lake, NY) filled the stats sheet with five kills, five digs, three service aces, and two blocks. Senior Dan Miranda (Sweet Home/Amherst, NY) and Cole Hutter (Bishop Alemany/Shadow Hills, CA) each contributed five kills for Nazareth's efficient attack. The Golden Flyers finished with hitting percentages of .429, .368, and .368 over the course of the match with a total of 28 kills and five hitting errors.

In addition to Guba's five digs, junior Connor Ecklund (Central Dauphin/Harrisburg, PA) also had five digs, and Mowery and freshman Nick McDonagh contributed four digs apiece. The Golden Flyers finished with an overwhelming advantage in blocks, accumulating 18 total blocks to one block for the Wildcats. SUNYIT finished with hitting percentages of .000, -.130, and -.148 due to Nazareth's control at the net.

In the first set, Nazareth stretched an early 7-1 lead into double-digits, 17-7, after an assisted block by Hutter and Lawatsch. The Wildcats tallied three consecutive points late in the set before falling 25-14.

The Golden Flyers took control early in the second set with a 6-3 lead. Guba had two aces during the set and Lawatsch recorded a solo block to extend Nazareth's lead. The Golden Flyers led by as many as 12 points, 23-11, before winning by the 13-point margin.

After Nazareth claimed a seven-point lead in the third set, the Wildcats chipped to within four points, 12-8. After trading points, the Golden Flyers strung together a 6-1 scoring run to pull away and secure the victory. McDonagh and Lawatsch ended the match with an assisted block.

Against Stevens, the Golden Flyers features a balanced attack as a total of four players finished with at least 11 kills. Freshman Brody Cord (Del Oro/Loomis, CA) amassed a team-high 14 kills. Senior Ellis Walsh (Penfield/Rochester, NY) tallied 12 kills, followed by 11 kills apiece by senior Billy Gimello (Hauppauge/Hauppauge, NY) and junior Robert Kraft (Southern Regional/Waretown, NJ). Stevens limited the damage by Nazareth's hitters by recording 21 total blocks, including five solo blocks. The Golden Flyers finished with 29 hitting errors compared to 17 hitting errors by the Ducks. Walsh tallied four assisted blocks to lead Nazareth.

Mowery recorded a match-high 10 digs while junior EJ Wells-Spicer had a match-high 46 assists for the Golden Flyers. Junior Alex Houghtalen (Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake/West Charlton, NY) chipped in six digs and six kills.

Thomas Hannum recorded 14 kills for Stevens. David Evans and Ryan Seifert added 13 kills and 11 kills, respectively. Kevin Aeckerle and Dylan Schlosser combined for 44 assists to set up most of the Ducks' attacks. James Mataras and Jake Modestow each had two solo blocks. Mataras added five assisted blocks, and Modestow chipped in three assisted blocks.

After trailing 11-7 in the first set, Nazareth rallied to tie the set at 19 points apiece following an assisted block by Walsh and Cord. The Golden Flyers tied the set at 21 points before the Ducks scored four of the final five points for the victory. Both teams were efficient on their attacks. Stevens finished the match with a hitting percentage of .481 with 16 kills and three errors. The Golden Flyers finished with a percentage of .450 with 14 kills and five errors.

In the second set, Nazareth rallied from a three-point deficit, 13-10, midway through the set to tie the match. The Golden Flyers tallied three consecutive points capped by a kill by Houghtalen to tie the match at 13 all. Nazareth spotted Stevens a two-point lead two additional times before claiming a 22-20 lead following a kill by Gimello. Gimello and Walsh sealed Nazareth's victory in the set with an assisted block.

A 7-2 scoring run late in the third set provided Stevens with the two-point victory. The Ducks had two blocks and two kills during the scoring run to take a decisive 24-21 lead. The Golden Flyers had a 19-17 lead after trailing through much of beginning of the match. Nazareth strung together four of five points to change a 15-13 deficit into a 17-16 lead. The teams traded points before Stevens put the match away with its scoring run.

Another five-point scoring run in the fourth set secured the Ducks' victory. With the score tied at seven points apiece, Nazareth allowed Stevens to claim six of the next seven points. The Golden Flyers closed to within one point, 19-18, but were unable to take the lead. Cord had four of his kills during Nazareth's attempted rally. Guba and Kraft also recorded a kill for Nazareth. The Ducks' control of the net forced the Golden Flyers into 10 hitting errors in the final set.