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ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Nazareth dropped matches to Plattsburgh and Buffalo State on Saturday on the second day of the Purple & Gold Invitational, hosted by the Golden Flyers. Nazareth fell to Plattsburgh by the scores of 25-16, 25-22, 18-25, 19-25, 15-13, and the Golden Flyers fell to Buffalo State by the scores of 20-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-23. Freshman Madi Wickens was named to the all-tournament team.

With the losses, Nazareth falls to 15-6 overall. With their respective victories over the Golden Flyers, Plattsburgh improved to 7-11 overall, and Buffalo State improved to 15-6.

In the first match against the Cardinals, Nazareth tied Saturday's match at two sets apiece after Plattsburgh won the first two sets. The Cardinals, however, held off the Golden Flyers in the fifth set to claim the victory. Juniors Chelsea Beecher and Olivia Harrigan each tallied 15 kills to lead Nazareth's attack.

The Golden Flyers fell behind in the first set because of errors. Nazareth had seven service errors and 10 hitting errors in the opening stanza. As a team, the Golden Flyers finished with a .027 attack percentage. Plattsburgh, meanwhile, recorded eight kills and two hitting errors. Nazareth closed its early deficit to one point, 6-5, before the Cardinals took control of the set with seven of the next nine points to build a commanding 13-7 advantage. The Golden Flyers were able to close the gap to four points, 15-11, but were unable to threaten to take the lead.

In the second set, Plattsburgh's attack established itself. The Cardinals had 15 kills led by Rosi Cunnings who had five kills in the set. Maggie Schrantz and Kristen Marchisatto each added four kills. The Golden Flyers sliced their attack errors in half from the first set, but managed only 11 kills. The Cardinals used another early lead to build into an overwhelming advantage. After trailing by eight points, 16-8, midway through the set, then 24-18 late in the set. Despite the adversity, Nazareth pulled to within two points, 24-22. Beecher started the run with a kill then followed it with a service ace. Classmate Kassandra Buseck followed with a pair of kills before the set ended on kill by Laura Diehl.

Nazareth rallied to tie the match with consecutive victories in the third and fourth sets. The Golden Flyers pounded out a match-high 16 kills and had only four hitting errors. Beecher had five kills while Harrigan and junior Maria Allocc added four kills apiece. Beecher and Wickens also each had two service aces. Nazareth took a 5-0 lead to open the set and stretched its lead to 18-10. The Cardinals scored seven of the next nine points to close to within 20-17, but the Golden Flyers closed out the set with a kill from Allocco.

In the fourth set, Nazareth forced Plattsburgh into eight hitting errors while converting 13 kills. Harrigan had four of the kills while Buseck and sophomore Jennifer Hicks totaled six additional kills. Freshman Maureen Thayer finished the set with 10 digs to thwart several offensive attacks by the Cardinals. After trading points to begin the set, Nazareth fell behind 15-11 before closing the set with a 14-4 scoring run. Buseck and Harrigan combined for four straight points to end the set.

In the deciding set, the Golden Flyers surrendered the first five points before rallying. Nazareth tied the set at nine points apiece following a Plattsburgh hitting error, but were unable to take the lead. The Cardinals scored the next four points to take a 13-9 lead. The Golden Flyers rallied with four of the next five points to stay in the match before Diehl's match-winning kill.

In addition to the 30 total kills from Beecher and Harrigan, Buseck and Allocco finished with 11 kills and 10 kills, respectively. Wickens finished with a match-high 30 assists while Thayer had 16 assists and a match-high 30 digs.

Schrantz and Cummings combined for 35 kills for Plattsburgh. Marchisatto amassed a team-high 29 assists while Amanda Wickers had 26 digs.

In Nazareth's match against Buffalo State, the Golden Flyers amassed 21 kills in the opening set to take the early advantage. Beecher had seven kills while Allocco and Buseck combined for nine kills. Nazareth had only five hitting errors and finished the stanza with a .356 attack percentage. The Golden Flyers took an early 7-0 lead with three kills from Beecher and an ace from Wickens. The Bengals closed to within four points twice, 11-7, and 23-19, but the Golden Flyers closed the set with kills by Beecher and Buseck.

In the second set, both teams tallied 15 kills and four errors as the teams traded points. Neither team was able to establish a lead of more than three points during the set. Nazareth took its first three-point lead, 15-12, on a kill by Wickens. Following a Buffalo State timeout, the Bengals answered with five of the next six poiints to take the lead. Buffalo State's lead grew to 23-20 on a kill by Samantha Parente. Parente finished the tournament as the MVP after recording 15 kills and no hitting errors on 29 attempts against the Golden Flyers. The Bengals won the match on a service error. Nazareth finished the match with a 10-point deficit (15-5) in total service errors.

The Golden Flyers tallied the first three points of the third set and held the lead up until 13-12. Three consecutive Bengals' points broke a 19-19 deadlock to give Buffalo State the advantage. Following a kill by Harrigan to bring Nazareth to within 23-21, the Bengals recorded blocks on the Golden Flyers' next two attempts to claim the set.

The fourth set was also played within two points until Nazareth took a 21-18 lead on a kill by Harrigan. The Bengals answered with seven of the next nine points to rally and win the match. Buffalo State had 13 kills and only two errors in the set for a .314 hitting percentage.

Beecher finished with 19 kills to lead all players. Buseck added 16 kills while Harrigan tallied 15 kills. Allocco also finished in double-digits in kills with 12. Wickens and Thayer recorded match-high totals in assists and digs, respectively. Wickens had 59 assists, and Thayer had 30 digs.

The Golden Flyers are in action again on Wednesday when Nazareth hosts Rochester in a non-conference contest.