Interactive Bracket
Printable Bracket
NCAA Release
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- It will be deja vu all over again for the Nazareth women's volleyball team. The Golden Flyers, fresh off their second straight Empire 8 Conference championship, will resume its season Friday in Potsdam as part of the 64-team field in the NCAA Division III Tournament.
The Golden Flyers (22-14 overall) drew the sixth seed in the eight-team New York Regional and will play third-seeded Clarkson (28-6) Friday at 8 p.m. at Clarkson's Alumni Gymnasium. Semifinal matches are scheduled for Saturday at 3:30 and 6 p.m. with the regional championship match set for Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
In other matches Friday at Clarkson, fourth-seeded New Paltz (32-8) plays fifth-seeded Skidmore (26-7) at 12:30 p.m.; eighth-seeded Colby-Sawyer (18-13) plays top-seeded Cortland (33-5) at 3 p.m.; and seventh-seeded Southern Vermont (24-6) plays second-seeded Middlebury (22-6) at 5:30 p.m.
The Clarkson-Nazareth match will be a rematch of last year's first-round contest in which the Golden Knights defeated the Golden Flyers in four sets. Nazareth and Clarkson also met earlier this season at Nazareth with the Golden Flyers prevailing in five sets.
Tickets for each match are $6 for adults, $4 for students and $3 for children under 12. All-session passes are available for $12 for adults, $10 for students and $3 for children under 12.
NOTES: Nazareth captured its sevcond straight Empire 8 Conference title with weekend wins over Elmira (25-22, 25-19, 16-25, 25-23) and Stevens (21-25, 18-25, 25-23, 25-17, 15-10).
Maria Allocco, a 6-foot-1 sophomore middle blocker, was named the tournament MVP for the second year in a row. She produced an attack line of 27-2-42 for a .595 hitting percentage and 10 blocks. Senior setter
Aubrey Cooke racked up 93 assists (10.33 assists per set) in the two matches and was named to the all-tournament team, along with senior outside hitter
Amy Johnson, who hit 21-4-38 for a .447 percentage to go with four service aces and eight blocks... Senior libero
Brittany Crocetti had 34 digs in the two matches... Nazareth dropped the first two sets against Stevens and in the process squandered a 17-12 lead in the second set. Nazareth was ahead 21-16 in the third set, then Stevens came back to tie the set at 23, before Nazareth converted on the last two points. The Golden Flyers were in control in the final two sets with Allocco delivering five of her 14 kills in the decisive fifth set, including the clinching swing on match point... In addition to playing Clarkson earlier this season, Nazareth has played regional participants Cortland and Skidmore. Nazareth was swept by Cortland in three sets and lost to Skidmore in five... Nazareth also has played tournament qualifiers Mount Union (26-6), Medaille (16-12) and Baruch (24-10. The Golden Flyers lost to Mount Union in three, split a pair of matches with Medaille and defeated Baruch in four sets in the season opener... In his 10th season as coach, Cal Wickens brings a career record of 224-149 (.601) into this weekend's action. He also has a record of 186-69 (.729) in eight seasons as coach of the Nazareth men's team. The Golden Flyers won a national title in 2011 and Wickens was honored as Division III Coach of the Year.