Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Wells box l Rivier box l Updated stats l Tournament site
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- The Golden Flyers defeated Wells in three sets, then rallied past 15th-ranked Rivier in five sets to open the Purple & Gold Invitational, which is being hosted by Nazareth. The scores of the match against Wells were 25-18, 25-22, 25-18. The scores against Rivier were 16-25, 23-25, 25-23, 25-17, 15-13. Freshmen Tim Zyburt and Grant Levermore amassed 19 kills and 13 kills, respectively, to lead Nazareth's rally against the Raiders.

With the victories, the top-ranked Golden Flyers remain undefeated and improve to 25-0. The Wells Express fall to 8-12 overall with the loss. The Rivier Raiders slipped to 13-10 overall following their loss in the 6 p.m. match.

In the first set against Rivier, the Raiders took control with a .650 hitting percentage on 14 kills and only one error. The Golden Flyers, meanwhile, finished with a .207 hitting percentage on 12 kills and six errors. Rivier led by six points multiple times during the match. After Nazareth closed to within 20-16, the Raiders took command and scored the final five points of the set.

Rivier took the momentum into the second set, and the Raiders stretched their lead to 18-8. Following a timeout, Nazareth outscored Rivier 9-1 to pull within two points, 19-17. The Golden Flyers scored six of the next 10 points to tie the score at 23 apiece following a hitting error by the Raiders. Rivier survived the set by scoring the final two points of the set. Sophomore Luke Lawatsch and Levermore each had an ace during Nazareth's rally while seniors Robert Kraft and Alex Houghtalen and Zyburt each recorded assisted blocks.

In the third set, the Raiders extended their lead to 13-10 before Nazareth scored four of the next five points.The Golden Flyers took their first lead of the set, 17-16, following a Rivier hitting error. The Golden Flyers prevailed despite nine hitting errors in the set. Nazareth forced the Raiders into eight hitting errors to stay close.

The Golden Flyers' attack overwhelmed Rivier in the fourth set as Nazareth converted 14 attempts into kills and had only three hitting errors. Zyburt stretched Nazareth's lead to 18-9 with a kill after receiving a pass from senior EJ Wells-Spicer. The Golden Flyers' defense held the Raiders to 11 kills and forced seven hitting errors.

In the fifth set, Nazareth allowed Rivier to take an early three point lead, 7-4. The Raiders maintained the lead until the Golden Flyers finished the set with a 6-2 scoring run to win the set 15-13. Lawatsch ignited the run with a kill, then he teamed with Zyburt to block a Rivier scoring attempt. Moments later, Lawatsch recorded an ace to put Nazareth ahead 13-12. A kill by Zyburt secured the victory for the Golden Flyers.

In addition to the kills from Zyburt and Levermore, Kraft finished with 10 kills and Lawatsch added nine kills. Wells-Spicer amassed a match-high 50 assists while senior Dan Mowery recorded a match-high 11 digs. Zyburt finished with five assisted blocks while Kraft and Lawatsch each had one solo block and three assisted blocks.

Chris Markuson and Shane Spellman combined for 34 kills for the Raiders. Steve Visentin finished with 47 assists.

In the match against Wells, Nazareth finished with an overwhelming 41-22 advantage in total kills. Sophomore Brody Cord and freshman Bobby Beeman tallied 11 kills and 10 kills, respectively, to lead the Golden Flyers' balanced attack. Ten players recorded at least one kill for Nazareth in the match.

Following Cord and Beeman was Zyburt and Kraft, who added six kills and four kills, respectively. Senior Connor Ecklund and sophomore Nick McDonagh combined for 26 assists to set up the Golden Flyers' attack. Nazareth finished with hitting percentages of .240, .143, and .414 during the match.

Defensively, the Golden Flyers held the Express to hitting percentages of .200, .000, and .111 in the three sets. Beeman had a team-high six digs followed by freshman Cory Randolph who had five digs. Freshman Chris Mahan was a presence at the net as he collected two solo blocks to thwart Wells' scoring attempts.

The Golden Flyers also recorded a dominant 9-2 advantage in service aces. Cord finished with a match-high four aces for Nazareth.

John Farruggia had six kills, and Derek Nipps recorded nine assists to lead the Express.

The Golden Flyers resume action in the Purple & Gold Invitational on Saturday. Nazareth hosts D'Youville at 11 a.m. then closes the tournament with a 3 p.m. match against Ramapo.