Bard box l Stevens box l Updated stats
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Seventh-ranked Nazareth opened its United Volleyball Conference schedule with a pair of matches at the Kidera Gymnasium on Saturday. The Golden Flyers swept Bard (25-7, 25-16, 25-15) before falling to first-ranked Stevens in four sets (25-23, 22-25, 25-22, 30-28).

Following the weekend's matches, Nazareth stands at 12-2 overall and 1-1 in UVC matches. With two losses, Bard drops to 2-11 overall and 0-3 in conference matches. Stevens improves to 8-3 overall and 2-0 in conference contests with its victories over Nazareth and Bard.

In their match against Bard, the Golden Flyers had 10 different players record kills to overwhelm the Raptors. Sophomore Kane Wittorff had a team-high six kills and recorded five service aces.

The Golden Flyers surged to a 10-1 lead in the opening set before closing the match with an 18-point margin of victory. Senior Luke Lawatsch led Nazareth with five kills on five attempts, and Wittorff and Brody Cord combined for five additional kills with zero errors. As a team, Nazareth finished with 12 kills on 14 attempts with zero errors for a .857 attack percentage. Defensively, the Golden Flyers held Bard to a .111 percentage as they allowed only three kills and forced two errors.

The second set was within two points before the Golden Flyers rolled off five straight points to take a 12-5 advantage. The Raptors closed to within three points, 14-11, but Nazareth responded with an 11-5 run to close the set. Freshman Sam Bittker had four kills on five attempts to lead the Golden Flyers. Rob Sarneckis, Chris Mahan, and Wittorff each added two kills a piece.

In the third set, Nazareth claimed seven of the first eight points. The Raptors closed their deficit to 14-10, but the Golden Flyers answered with an 8-2 scoring run to take a commanding 10-point lead. Juniors Josh Hieb and Tim Zyburt each tallied four kills while classmate Grant Levermore and Mahan had three kills and two kills, respectively. After cooling to a hitting percentage of .333 in the second set, the Golden Flyers recorded a percentage of .632 with 14 kills on 19 attempts on two errors in the third set.

Freshman Jake Kemp amassed a match-high 34 assists to direct Nazareth's attack. Cord finished with a team-high 4 digs. Wittorff, Mahan, and freshman Pat Stroh each had a solo block to deny the Raptors' attack.

In their match against Stevens, Levermore amassed a match-high 17 kills while Zyburt tallied 14 kills and Lawatsch recorded 12 kills. Mahan tallied a match-high hitting percentage of .727 with eight kills on 11 attempts and zero errors.

In the opening set, the Ducks scored five consecutive points to turn a 7-7 tie into a 12-7 advantage. The Golden Flyers closed to within one point, 24-23, following an assisted block by Zyburt and Lawatsch, but Stevens' Tim Ferriter converted the Ducks' next kill attempt for the two-point win. Levermore had five kills with zero errors to lead all players. Lawatsch and Zyburt combined for five additional kills on nine total attempts.

In the second set, Nazareth rallied from an initial 3-0 hole to tie the set at 4 points apiece. The Golden Flyers took their first lead at 6-5 when Zyburt converted a kill after receiving a pass from Lawatsch. Lawatsch and Levermore had kills on the next two plays to stretch Nazareth's lead to three points. The Ducks scored six of the next nine points to tie the set 11-11. The teams stayed within two points of each other until the final play of the set. Stevens took a brief 16-14 lead, but Nazareth rallied, and a block from Mahan provided the Golden Flyers with a 21-19 edge. Mahan's second solo block of the set gave Nazareth the 25-22 win.

The Ducks took a 7-3 lead in the third set before the Golden Flyers rallied to tie the match 13-13 on an ace by Hieb. Zyburt's solo block on the next play capped Nazareth's 11-6 run, and provided the Golden Flyers a 14-13 edge. Stevens answered with three consecutive points to reclaim the lead for good. Nazareth closed to 21-20 on a kill by Zyburt and 22-21 on a Ducks' service error. Zyburt finished the set with six kills on 11 attempts and one hitting error to lead the Golden Flyers.

The Golden Flyers a pair of five-point leads, 7-2 and 10-5, in the fourth set before Stevens eventually rallied. After having its 7-2 lead cut to two points, an assisted block by Lawatsch and Hieb reclaimed Nazareth's five-point lead. Stevens closed its deficit with an 11-5 run. The Golden Flyers, however, maintained at least a one-point lead until the Ducks tied the match at 22 apiece. Each team had set-point opportunities, but neither was able to convert until the Ducks' Daniel Smith gave Stevens the 30-28 win.

Kemp finished with 49 assists as Nazareth's primary setter, and Levermore amassed a match-high15 digs.

Ferriter and David Evans each had 15 kills for the Ducks, and John Eddins and Kevin Aeckerle combined for 48 assists. Ryan Seifert had a team-high 10 digs.

The Golden Flyers are in action again Saturday, February 21st when Nazareth hosts Medaille and Ramapo. The matches arescheduled for 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.