Golden Flyers Soar to Victory Wednesday
Nazareth 3, Rochester 0
Nazareth defeated visiting Rochester in three sets in Wednesday's non-conference volleyball match at the Kidera Gymnasium. The scores of the match were 26-24, 25-21, 25-22. Junior
Chelsea Beecher had a match-high 12 kills to lead the Golden Flyers.
With the victory, Nazareth improves to 16-6 overall. With the loss, the Yellowjackets fall to 7-17 overall. The Golden Flyers were missing freshman
Madi Wickens while Rochester was without Savannah Benton, who entered the contest as the Yellowjackets' leader in kills.
In addition to the kills from Beecher, juniors
Olivia Harrigan and
Kassandra Buseck each tallied nine kills apiece. Classmate
Maria Allocco recorded seven kills and zero hitting errors for a .538 attack percentage. Sophomore
Jennifer Hicks also chipped in three kills. Freshman
Maureen Thayer amassed a match-high 37 assists as Nazareth's primary setter. Allocco also finished with five service aces.
Defensively, freshman
Cady Messmer had a team-high 12 digs. Allocco, Buseck, and Hicks each had one solo block. Harrigan and Alloco also had an assisted block. The Golden Flyers held Rochester to attack percentages of .179, .000, and .129 through the three sets.
Medaille 3, St. John Fisher 1
The St. John Fisher College volleyball team nearly forced a fifth set, but was unable to hold onto a late lead in the fourth, as Medaille College earned the 3-1 win, Wednesday night at the Sullivan Center in Buffalo, N.Y.
The Cardinals are now 11-12 on the year, while Medaille improves to 5-12
After exchanging wins in the first and second sets, the Cardinals held a lead in the third set, but Medaille stormed back, taking a 14-11 lead, forcing Fisher to call a timeout to regroup. The visiting Cardinals did just that eventually taking a 22-21 lead, but the Mavericks wouldn't go away without a fight as they put together a late run en route to a 26-24 win.
In the fourth set, Medaille scored six straight points before
Rachael Kline was able to get Fisher on the board with a hard hit kill. Medaille held a 16-10 lead, but Fisher would climb back into the match with five unanswered points, forcing the Mavericks to call a timeout at 16-15. Back-to-back kills by
Lauren Rokjerand a setting error by the home team gave the Cardinals a 21-18 lead, but it wouldn't hold, as Medaille would score seven of the set's final eight points to earn a 25-23 win and the game, three sets to one.
Megan Miller had a team-high 16 kills to go along with 14 digs, while Kline tallied 11 kills and a pair of blocks.
Paige Willson had nine kills and
Brooke Meader smashed eight kills.
Erica Stickler chipped in with 39 assists, giving her 84 in her last two games.
Cortland 3, Ithaca 0
The Ithaca College volleyball team (8-16) dropped a 3-0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-22) decision to local foe Cortland (11-12) Wednesday night in Ben Light Gymnasium.
Despite suffering its fourth straight shutout, the Bombers improved their hitting percentage each set, tallying a .242 showing in the final frame.
Newcomers
Grace Chang and
Shaelynn Schmidt each recorded nine kills as classmate
Molly Brown set for 24 assists. Freshman
Siobhan Sorensen posted three blocks for the Bombers.
The Red Dragons recorded a kill on the opening point to secure the lead in the first. They powered to a 6-1 edge to claim a margin that the Bombers could not rewrite. Cortland won the first by double digits, 25-15.
Ithaca snapped a 2-2 tie in the second stint for a 5-2 edge on
Myan Idziur's serve. The Red Dragons responded with eight unanswered. Cortland increased the gap to eight, 18-10, but Ithaca pieced together a run of its own to pull within one, 23-22. The visiting squad held strong to take a 2-0 series lead with a 25-22 victory.
The third set mirrored the second as Ithaca was within 23-22 in the waning moments, flirting with a fourth set. Action was knotted six times, before Cortland went ahead, 17-13. Ithaca answered with back-to-back Chang kills and a
Syline Kim ace to bring the match to a 17-17 deadlock. Four additional ties followed. Cortland went ahead, 23-21, but the Bombers snuck within one, 23-22. Two kills finalized all action in three for Cortland.
SUNYIT 3, Utica 0
The Utica College volleyball team lost to cross town rival, SUNYIT, 3-0 Wednesday night in non-conference action. Junior
Cassandra Manzer led the way with ten kills.
The Pioneers lost in straight sets, 25-19, 25-13, 25-18. Sophomore
Lora Allen had a team-best 16 assists, while
Alexis Lyon and
Diamond DeVane led the squad with seven digs each.
Chelsea Lauria had six kills, while Laua Homer-Gunther and
Brandi Blaszak each had five kills. Allen, DeVane, and senior captain
Liz Sacco also recorded kills.