Box l Updated stats
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Nazareth's men's volleyball team, ranked fifth nationally, suffered a non-conference defeat to 13th-ranked Mount St. Joseph on Saturday. The Golden Flyers had a two-to-one advantage in sets following the third, however, the Lions rallied to win the match by taking the fourth and fifth sets. The scores of the match were 19-25, 25-19, 23-25, 25-21, and 15-12. Seniors Grant Levermore and Tim Zyburt had 15 kills and 13 kills, respectively, to lead Nazareth's attack.

Following the loss, the Golden Flyers slip to 16-4 overall. With the victory, the Lions improve to 10-5 overall.

After trading points to open the first set, Nazareth stretched its lead to 18-10 after outscoring Mount St. Joseph 10-3. Freshman Zachary Gillard capped the run with a service ace. Kills by Levermore and classmate Chris Mahan sandwiched around a Lions' hitting error provided the Golden Flyers the final three points of the set. Nazareth finisehd with a .250 hitting percentage on 12 kills and five errors while holding Mount St. Joseph to a .094 percentage on 10 kills and seven errors.

In the second set, the Golden Flyers took a 9-4 lead following kills by Levermore and Gillard. The Lions used a 14-6 scoring run to chip away at the deficit and claim an 18-15 lead. Two kills from Mahan and another kill from Gillard tied the score at 18 apiece before Mount St. Joseph closed the set on a 7-1 scoring run.

Nazareth trailed 16-12 in the third set before rallying. An assisted block by Zyburt and Mahan tied the set 20-20. Moments later, kills by Mahan and sophomore Jake Kemp gave the Golden Flyers a 23-21 lead. The Golden Flyers secured the set with back-to-back kills from Mahan and Levermore. Levermore had six kills on eight attempts with zero errors in the third.

Similar to the third set, Nazareth faced a deficit in the fourth set, falling into a 10-5 hole. The Golden Flyers rallied to tie the score five times, including 20-20. After Nazareth tied the score at 20, the Lions responded with four consecutive points. During the critical span, Mount St. Joseph recorded a pair of blocks, and the Golden Flyers had a blocking error and attack error. The Lions' Jake Neiheisel and Darrell Swanson combined for seven kills on 11 attempts to lead Mount St. Joseph.

In the fifth set, the Lions stretched their lead to four points, 7-3, before the Golden Flyers scored six of the next eight points to tie the decisive set 9-9. Zyburt and Levermore each had two kills, and Mount St. Joseph committed a pair of unforced errors. The Lions scored the next two points on a kill and block to reclaim the lead. Mount St. Joseph maintained the lead through the remainder of the match. The Golden Flyers believed they had tied the set at 11 points apiece when it appeared Nazareth had converted an attack opportunity. When play continued without a whistle, the Golden Flyers eventually surrendered the point on an attack error, and the Lions took a 12-10 lead instead of having a tie score.

In addition to the kills from Zyburt and Levermore, Mahan finished with 11 kills while Gillard tallied nine kills. Kemp finished with a match-high 48 assists as he directed the Golden Flyers' attack. Junior Tom Keisling and Kemp combined for 29 digs.

Alex Vohland had a team-high 14 kills for Mount St. Joseph, and Nathan Herdeman tallied 44 assists. Lyle Lehmann amassed a match-high 17 digs.

The Golden Flyers resume action on March 5th when they travel to MIT for crucial conference matches against MIT and ninth-ranked Vassar.