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ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Freshman Cady Messmer clinched Nazareth's three-set victory with a service ace to lift the Golden Flyers over the Blue Devils 32-30 in the third set. Nazareth won the first two sets by the scores of 25-18 and 25-20. Classmate Madi Wickens amassed a match-high 34 assists and four aces in addition to 12 digs.

With the non-conference victory, the Golden Flyers improve to 11-3 overall. Fredonia falls to 8-5 overall with the loss.

Nazareth's victory snaps the Blue Devils' two-match win streak. Fredonia had won five of its last six matches. The Golden Flyers will take their new winning streak into this weekend's Empire 8 Crossover at Hartwick. Nazareth opens the crossover against Empire 8 provisional member Houghton on Friday. The Golden Flyers will play Hartwick and Stevens on Saturday.

In Wednesday evening's match, junior Kassandra Buseck tallied a match-high 12 kills on 34 attempts. Buseck had only two hitting errors. Buseck had seven of her kills in the third set. Wickens distributed the ball evenly as four players recorded at least 20 attempts. Juniors Maria Allocco and Chelsea Beecher had nine kills and eight kills, respectively. Allocco tallied a set-high five kills in the first set to help provide Nazareth with the early advantage. Messmer finished with five kills, and sophomore Jennifer Hicks added three kills. Junior Katherine Race and freshman Sarah McMahon chipped in one kill apiece. As a team, Nazareth finished with a .146 hitting percentage.

Defensively, freshman Maureen Thayer accumulated a match-high 27 digs, including 13 in the final set, to thwart the Blue Devils' attacks. Wickens and Beecher totaled another 22 digs. In addition to her offensive contributions, Buseck added a solo block and three assisted blocks at the net. Nazareth's stingy defense held Fredonia to an average hitting percentage of .084 during the match. In the first two sets, the Blue Devils had a hitting percentage of .000.

Jessica DiChristopher had a team-high 11 kills for the Blue Devils. Sara Madison added eight kills. Kelly Edinger finished with 27 assists as Fredonia's primary setter. Sophomores Brittany Kelly and Lauren Hokaj combined for 27 digs.

In the final set, Fredonia led 19-13. Despite Nazareth closing its deficit, the Blue Devils had four set points before the Golden Flyers took the lead. Nazareth converted its third match point opportunity. With the score 21-16, the Golden Flyers rattled off six of the next seven points to tie the match at 22 apiece. Buseck had two kills while Messmer and McMahon each had one. Beecher also had an ace. Nazareth tied the match on an assisted block by Buseck and Allocco.

In the second set, Nazareth trailed 6-1 before rallying with five consecutive points. Buseck, Messmer, and Beecher each recorded kills. Thayer added another ace, and the run was capped by a Fredonia hitting error. The Golden Flyers took the lead for good midway through the set and extended their advantage to seven points twice.

The first set saw Nazareth take control early with six of the first eight points. The Blue Devils closed to within one point, 6-5, but the Golden Flyers never surrendered the lead. Nazareth stretched its lead to nine points, 24-15, before settling for the seven-point victory.