Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Thiel box l Ramapo box l Tournament site
KENOSHA, WI -- Nazareth's men's volleyball team, ranked seventh nationally, held off Thiel in five sets (25-19, 25-18, 20-25, 23-25, 15-11) and rallied to knock off Ramapo in four sets (22-25, 25-20, 26-24, 25-22) in the Golden Flyers' first matches of the Carthage Tournament on Saturday. Sophomores Tim Zyburt (15) and Grant Levermore (14) combined for 29 of Nazareth's 65 kills against the Tomcats, then Zyburt (16) and Levermore (10) amassed 26 of the Golden Flyers' 52 kills against Ramapo. Zyburt recorded a .429 attack percentage with only one error and 35 attempts. He had 14 kills and zero errors on 29 attempts over the final three sets.

With the victories, the Golden Flyers improve to 14-5 overall and extend their winning streak to seven matches. With the loss, Thiel falls to 10-11 overall. Nazareth also defeated the Tomcats in four sets on February 1st at the Golden Flyer Invitational. Ramapo drops to 15-6 overall with the loss.

In Saturday's contest against Thiel, Nazareth opened the first set with 15 kills and only five hitting errors for a .370 attack percentage. Six different players recorded kills in the set to overwhelm the Tomcats. Levermore had four kills with two hitting errors, while senior Cole Hutter and sophomore Coulton Every added three kills apiece with neither player having an attack error. Levermore, Zyburt and junior Nick McDonagh also recorded a service ace. The Golden Flyers finished the match with a 6-2 advantage in the category.

In the second set, Nazareth's attack was even more efficient as it converted 16 kills and had only four attack errors. Hutter led all players in the set with five kills, and Levermore and Zyburt each had three kills. Hutter finished the match with eight total kills, all of which came during the first two sets. Defensively, the Golden Flyers frustrated Thiel at the net, holding the Tomcats to only seven kills and forcing seven errors. Zyburt and Every recorded three assisted blocks and two assisted blocks, respectively.

Thiel's attack gained consistency in the third and fourth sets to even the match. The Tomcats recorded hitting percentages of .357 (12 kills, two errors, 28 attempts) in the third set and .306 (17 kills, six errors, 36 attempts) in the fourth set. The Golden Flyers attack, meanwhile, slowed with six hitting errors in the third set and seven in the fourth. Zyburt, however, had his most accurate set in the third, converting kills on five of six attempts without an attack error.

In the decisive fifth set, Levermore and junior Luke Lawatsch each had three kills as Nazareth hammered eight kills on 15 attempts. Lawatsch's three kills came in succession to convert an 8-6 Nazareth deficit into a 9-8 lead. Lawatsch's kills were the beginning of a 6-1 scoring run that provided the Golden Flyers with a 12-9 lead. Lawatsch recorded eight kills in the match. The Golden Flyers' defense forced the Tomcats into five hitting errors while allowing only two kills. Levermore and sophomore Chris Mahan each had two assisted blocks, and sophomore Cory Randolph tallied five digs in the set.

With his fifth-set digs, Randolph finished with a match-high 14, and Zyburt was one behind with 13. McDonagh amassed a match-high 58 assists as he directed the Golden Flyers' attack.

Thiel was led by Michael Whitlock with 12 kills, Charlie Tindall with 20 assists, and Dylan Lasher with 10 digs.

Against the Roadrunners, the Golden Flyers started the match with a 7-3 lead following kills by Mahan, Levermore, and Zyburt. Ramapo answered with a 5-1 run to tie the set at eight points apiece. Ramapo's rally was aided by Nazareth attack errors, a receiving error, and a service error. The teams traded points with neither team claiming more than a two-point advantage until Andrew Balint extended the Roadrunners' lead to 23-20 with a service ace. Ramapo's last points of the set were scored on kills by Ahjon Petty. Petty finished the set with eight kills, and he amassed 22 kills over the course of the match.

Nazareth's attack percentage improved from 10 kills and seven errors in the first set to 13 kills and seven errors in the second. Lawatsch and Zyburt each had four kills and Hutter added another three kills. The Golden Flyers' defense also frustrated the Roadrunners and forced nine hitting errors. Nazareth rallied from a 10-6 deficit to a 17-11 lead with an 11-1 scoring run. Levermore ignited the run with a kill, and he, Zyburt, and Lawatsch each recorded multiple kills during it. Levermore had three consecutive points with two kills sandwiched around a service ace. The Roadrunners closed to within three points, 23-20, but Nazareth secured the set with an assisted block by Levermore and Lawatsch and a Ramapo hitting error.

The offenses were clicking on both sides of the net in the third set as the Golden Flyers finished with a scorching .536 attack percentage on 17 kills, two errors, and 28 attempts. The Roadrunners recorded a match-high .312 percentage with 15 kills, five errors, and 32 attempts. Nazareth had an early three-point lead of 5-2 following a kill by sophomore Bobby Beeman, then Beeman reclaimed the three-point lead 10-7 with a service ace. Later in the match, Ramapo extended its advantage to three points, 19-16, but Nazareth rallied with five of seven points to tie the match at 21-21. Zyburt, Levermore, and Beeman each had a kill, and Lawatsch and McDonagh combined for a block. Mahan's kill clinched the set for the Golden Flyers.

Similar to the second set, Nazareth fell behind early in the fourth set, then used a long scoring run to take a commanding lead before allowing Ramapo to rally to within a few points. The Golden Flyers trailed 5-3 before embarking on a 12-2 run to take a 15-7 lead. During the run, Nazareth recorded seven kills, three blocks, and a service ace. Ramapo also had an unforced error. The Roadrunners, however, climbed to within two points, 24-22, before the Golden Flyers secured the victory on an assisted block by Every and Beeman.

In addition to the 26 total kills by Levermore and Zyburt, Lawatsch finished with eight kills and Beeman had seven while Cord finished with four, all of which he recorded in the fourth set. McDonagh was Nazareth's primary setter again with 43 assists, and Randolph had a match-high 14 digs.

In addition to Petty's kills, Brian Collabella contributed 10 kills. Balint had team-highs in assists (43) and digs (11).

On Sunday, the Golden Flyers take on 14th-ranked Baruch and host Carthage, who is ranked fourth. Sunday's match against Baruch is scheduled for 10 a.m. Eastern (9 a.m. Central), then Nazareth plays Carthage at 2 p.m. Eastern (1p.m. Central). Matches can be followed on Live Stats and video.