Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Buffalo State box l Fredonia box l Updated stats | Tournament site
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Nazareth secured its first women's volleyball victory of the 2014 season Friday as the Golden Flyers defeated Buffalo State in four sets in their first match of the Golden Flyer Invitational at the Kidera Gymnasium. Scores were 25-23, 11-25, 25-20, 25-19. A few hours later, Nazareth claimed its second victory with a three-set sweep of Fredonia with the scores of 25-21, 25-21, 25-20.

With the victories, the Golden Flyers improved to 2-4 overall. After falling to Nazareth, Buffalo State is 2-3 overall. Fredonia stands at 3-3 overall after its loss to the Golden Flyers.

Against Buffalo State, senior Olivia Harrigan combined a match-high 16 kills with 14 digs and senior Maria Allocco posted a .481 hitting percentage (15-2-27). Sophomore Madi Wickens added 49 assists and 14 digs and sophomore libero Maureen Thayer amassed 29 digs.

Nazareth started strong in set one by building leads of 6-1 and 7-2 before the Bengals rallied to within 24-23. Allocco sealed the set with a kill for the 25th point off an assist from Wickens. Harrigan had five of her kills and senior Kassandra Buseck had four and Thayer totaled 12 digs in the opening set.

Buffalo State dominated the second set by hitting .385 (10-0-26), while Nazareth struggled with 13 hitting errors. Sets three and four were close throughout with Nazareth pulling away toward the end of each. Trailing 19-17 in the third set, the Golden Flyers scored eight of the last nine points to secure the set. Harrigan had a pair of kills during the momentum-shifting stretch and junior Brittany Smith served up an ace on set point. Harrigan and Allocco each had six kills in the set.

In the fourth set, Nazareth led 18-17 and finished by scoring seven of the last nine points. Harrigan contributed two more kills as did Jennifer Hicks.

Against Fredonia, the Golden Flyers surged to a 9-0 lead on Allocco's serving. She finished the series with three aces while Harrigan and junior Jennifer Hicks each recorded kills. The Blue Devils closed to within three points, 11-8, but Nazareth pulled away with an 11-3 scoring run to extend its lead to 22-11. The Golden Flyers held on for the four-point win. Hicks and senior Kassandra Buseck each had four kills and only one error in the set. Allocco added three additional kills during the stanza.

The Blue Devils and Golden Flyers traded points throughout much of the second with neither team able to claim more than a three-point advantage until late in the set. Trailing 13-12, Nazareth recorded four consecutive points to take control. The critical scoring run was ignited by an Allocco kill then was followed by a kill from Buseck, a Fredonia error, then another kill from Allocco.

In the third set, the Golden Flyers tallied 14 kills and only four errors on their way to a .370 hitting percentage. Nazareth's defense, meanwhile, held the Blue Devils to only seven kills and a .154 hitting percentage. Allocco, Buseck, and Hicks were effective again as the trio combined for 10 kills and only two errors. Freshman Mallory Cobb also contributed two kills and no errors in the set. Allocco, Hicks, and Buseck finished the match with .533, .500, and .320 hitting percentages, respectively. Wickens amassed a match-high 37 assists to direct Nazareth's efficient attack.

Defensively, Thayer recorded a match-high 20 digs to thwart several Fredonia attempts. Hicks and Buseck each had a solo and an assisted block at the net.

The Golden Flyers will look to extend their two-match winning streak on Saturday when Nazareth plays Medaille at 10 a.m. and RIT at 2 p.m.