Lebanon Valley box l Pitt-Bradford box l Tournament site
CORTLAND, N.Y. -- Nazareth opended the 2013 season with a pair of victories on the first day of the Red Dragon Volleyball Classic, hosted by Cortland. The Golden Flyers defeated Lebanon Valley in five sets by the scores of 25-22, 19-25, 25-18, 22-25, 15-13, then they knocked off Pitt-Bradford in four sets with the scores of 25-12, 25-21, 22-25, 25-22.

In Nazareth's opening match against the Dutchmen, junior Maria Allocco tallied a team-high 12 kills on 17 attempts with only one error. Juniors Olivia Harrigan and Chelsea Beecher each added nine kills while classmate Kassandra Buseck recorded eight additional kills. The Golden Flyers pounded out 11 kills through each of the first three sets before recording seven kills in the fourth set and six in the fifth set. Nazareth had only one hitting error in the first set and two in the decisive first set. Freshman Madi Wickens amassed a team-high 37 assists to direct the Golden Flyers' attack.

Defensively, junior Katherine Race accumulated 17 digs while Wickens added 12 kills, and Beecher finished with 10 kills. Sophomore Jennifer Hicks recorded two solo blocks and four assisted blocks. Buseck and Alloco added four assisted blocks while Harrigan finished with three assisted blocks.

In the second match, against the Panthers, Beecher had 12 kills with only two hitting errors and freshman Cady Messmer had 10 kills and only three hitting errors. Freshman Maureen Thayer totaled 27 assists and six aces to lead the Golden Flyers in both categories. Beecher and Messmer also chipped in three aces apiece as Nazareth tallied 13 service aces. The Golden Flyers had hitting percentages of .240, .370, .091,  and .143 through the match's four sets.

Thayer had a team-high 11 digs to thwart Pitt-Bradford's attack. Junior Taylor Stabley recorded nine additional digs. Allocco finished as Nazareth's leader at the net with two solo blocks and two assisted blocks.

The Golden Flyers resume action in the Red Dragaon Classic with an 11 a.m. match against Richard Stockton and a 1:30 p.m. match against 20th-ranked Juniata. Nazareth has its home opener on Friday, September 6th at 2 p.m. against RIT. The match opens the Golden Flyer Invitational.