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POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. -- Senior Ellis Walsh amassed 11 kills on 15 attempts without recording a hitting error to lead seventh-ranked Nazareth to a five-set victory over Johnson & Wales at the Vassar Invitational. The scores of the J&W match were 25-17, 23-25, 25-18, 21-25, 15-9. Nazareth fell to third-ranked Springfield in Friday's second match. The scores of Springfield match were 25-18, 25-18, 25-21. Junior Alex Houghtalen finished with a team-high 13 kills and three service aces for the Golden Flyers against Johnson & Wales.

With Friday's split, Nazareth stands at 22-8 overall. Springfield stood at 23-5 after downing the Golden Flyers. Johnson & Wales dropped to 13-12 overall following its loss to Nazareth.

The Golden Flyers held Johnson & Wales to hitting percentages of .087, .000, and .200 in the three sets they claimed. Nazareth's 17-9 advantage in total team blocks overwhelmed the Wildcats' attack. Senior Dan Miranda tallied a match-high five solo blocks, followed by Walsh and senior Sam Guba with four blocks apiece.

In addition to the double-digit kills by Houghtalen and Walsh, six other Golden Flyers converted attacks. Miranda added seven kills, followed by sophomore Cole Hutter and freshman Brody Cord, who each contributed six kills. Guba and junior Robert Kraft finished with five kills and four kills, respectively, and junior Connor Ecklund chipped in one kill.

Junior EJ Wells-Spicer accumulated a match-high 43 assists to organize the Golden Flyers' attack. Junior Dan Mowery recorded nine digs while Ecklund followed with seven digs.

For the Wildcats, Chris Espinola tallied a match-high 14 kills. Dan Tiner, who had 13 kills, and Shawn Kennedy, who had 11 kills, also finished in double-digits. J.J. Bassette recorded 42 assists as the primary setter.

Defensively, Johnson & Wales totaled 65 digs to thwart many of the Golden Flyers' attempts. By comparison, Nazareth recorded 39 digs as a team. Alex Viera (16 digs), Tiner (15 digs), Espinola (11 digs), and Bassette (11 digs) all finished with at least 11 digs.

Following its five-set match, the Golden Flyers were defeated by the Pride in straight sets. Springfield held Nazareth to just 17 total kills and forced the Golden Flyers into committing 20 hitting errors. Houghtalen finished with a team-high seven kills, followed by Kraft, who added six kills.

Wells-Spicer tallied a team-high 18 assists to to lead Nazareth. Mowery finished with a team-high seven digs. In addition to his assists, Wells-Spicer also recorded five digs. After controlling the net against the Wildcats in their first match of the night, the Golden Flyers managed just two total team blocks against the Pride.

The Golden Flyers resume action at the Vassar Invitational on Saturday with a 12 p.m. match against 15th-ranked Baruch and a 2 p.m. match against Newbury.