Rochester box l Rowan box l Updated stats
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Nazareth finished the second day of the New York Regional Challenge at Hunter College with a win and a loss as the Golden Flyers fell to Rochester in three sets (25-18, 25-19, 25-15) before defeating Rowan in straight sets (26-24, 25-20, 26-24). Senior Cady Messmer entered Saturday's action with 998 career kills. She surpassed the 1,000-kill mark with five kills against Rochester. With 17 more against Rowan, Messmer currently stands at 1,020 career kills.

Following Saturday's matches, Nazareth is 22-9 overall. Rochester improved to 22-10 overall with its victory over the Golden Flyers while Rowan dropped to 9-22 overall with its loss.

In the Golden Flyers' first match on Saturday, Rochester held Nazareth to attack percentages of .083, .111, and -.118 as the Golden Flyers managed 19 kills and 18 hitting errors. The Yellowjackets finished with three solo blocks and 12 assisted blocks to force many of Nazareth's errors. Messmer and sophomore Kelsey Milligan each had five kills to pace Nazareth players. Freshmen Melissa Newcomb and Delaney Martin added four kills apiece.

Senior Maureen Thayer finished with a team-high 14 assists. Sophomore Celia Cordero amassed a match-high 10 digs while junior Lindsay Bynon tallied nine digs. Milligan also chipped in defensively with a solo block and a pair of assisted blocks.

Rochester was led by Clara Martinez, who tallied a match-high 11 kills. Aimee Kohler had a match-high 26 assists. At the net, Alexandra Goldman was credited with a solo block and four assisted blocks to frustrate Nazareth's attack.

The Golden Flyers had more success when they took on Rowan in their second match of the day. Nazareth finished with hitting percentages of .023, .303, and .122. Messmer had 17 kills to lead the Nazareth attack. Sophomore Carmen Sapp and Martin each added nine kills, and Milligan chipped in four additional kills. Thayer had more than twice as many assists as in the Rochester match as she finished with a match-high 37 assists, and she also finished with four service aces.

Defensively, sophomore Olivia Krick had 13 digs, and Milligan had five assisted blocks. Messmer and Sapp were credited with multiple assisted blocks, too.

Nazareth is in action again November 5th when the Golden Flyers travel to Stevens for the Empire 8 Tournament. Nazareth enters as the third seed and will play second-seeded Ithaca in its semifinal match on November 4th at 2:30 p.m. Top-seeded Stevens will play fourth-seeded St. John Fisher in the other semifinal match at 12 p.m. The semifinal winners will play November 6th at 12 p.m.