Hilbert box l Mt. Union box l Updated stats l Tournament site
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Nazareth's women's volleyball team split Saturday's matches to finish the Golden Flyer Invitational with a 3-1 record. Nazareth won its third match of the tournament early Saturday afternoon as the Golden Flyers defeated Hilbert in four sets by the scores of 25-15, 18-25, 25-11, 25-12. Nazareth fell to 11th-ranked Mt. Union in Saturday's title game in three sets. The scores were 25-19, 25-18, 25-15.

Following the Golden Flyer Invitational, Nazareth stands at 6-2 overall. Hilbert slipped to 2-4 overall after falling to the Golden Flyers. Mt. Union remained undefeated with four victories in the tournament. The Purple Raiders stand at 8-0 overall. Juniors Maria Allocco and Chelsea Beecher were named to the all-tournament team for Nazareth.

In the Golden Flyers' victory against Hilbert, Allocco, sophomore Jennifer Hicks, and freshman Cady Messmer each had six kills to lead Nazareth's attack. Ten players tallied kills for the Golden Flyers' balanced attack.

In addition to the 18 combined kills from Allocco, Hicks, and Messmer, junior Kassandra Buseck and freshman Maureen Thayer added five kills and four kills, respectively. Messmer finished with seven service aces, including three in the third set, to help the Golden Flyers to a 19-4 advantage in the category. Freshman Madi Wickens finished with a team-high 15 assists while Thayer recorded nine assists.

Defensively, Thayer and junior Katherine Race each tallied a team-high 10 digs to stymie the Hawks' attack. Beecher also had nine digs. The Golden Flyers allowed Hilbert to record only 27 total kills and forced the Hawks into 26 hitting errors. Hilbert's attack finished with negative hitting percentages in the first, third, and fourth sets.

Against Mt. Union, Nazareth jumped to a 8-4 lead in the first set and took a 5-1 lead in the second set. The Golden Flyers built their first-set lead with two kills from Buseck, a kill apiece from Messmer and Beecher, and an ace from Thayer. Nazareth also took advantage of errors by the Purple Raiders. After trading points to maintain a 10-6 lead, Mt. Union tallied eight consecutive points to take the lead. The Golden Flyers closed to within two points, 14-12, following an ace by Wickens, but the Raiders responded with five consecutive points to take control of the match.

In the second set, Beecher helped provide Nazareth with an early lead with two kills and an ace. The Golden Flyers did not trail until Taylor Webb tallied three consecutive kills to give Mt. Union a 14-12 advantage. The Purple Raiders outscored Nazareth 11-6 down the stretch to pull away for the victory.

In the third set, Mt. Union surged to a 13-3 lead to take firm control of the match. The Raiders were dominant at the net as they finished with an 11-4 advantage in total team blocks. Kara Berger and Sara Brown each had three solo blocks. Berger added four assisted blocks.

Messmer finished with a team-high seven kills while Beecher and Buseck added five kills apiece. Wickens tallied 16 assists while Beecher finished with a team-high nine digs.

Webb had a match-high 10 kills for Mt. Union. Sarah Schleich and Brittany Woodard had 12 assists apiece, and Lauren Mastroine finished with a match-high 15 digs.

Nazareth is in action againon September 11th when the Golden Flyers host Brockport in a non-conference contest.