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ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Nazareth's women's volleyball team, fresh off its third straight Empire 8 Conference championship, will continue its season this weekend against New York University as part of the eight-team New York Regional hosted by Clarkson University.
Nazareth improved to 29-8 overall by dispatching Elmira and Stevens over the weekend in three and four sets respectively to claim the E8 title and to gain the automatic berth to the 64-team field. It will be Nazareth's 11th NCAA appearance for women's volleyball.
The Golden Flyers will play NYU (27-7) in a first-round match Friday at 5:30 p.m. at Clarkson's Alumni Gymnasium. Semifinal matches will be played Saturday at 3:30 and 6 p.m. repsectively and the regional championship match is Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
In other first-round matches, Richard Stockton (30-5) plays Rivier (27-8) at 12:30 p.m.; New Paltz (32-6) plays Colby-Sawyer (22-10) at 3 p.m. and Clarkson (33-6) plays Westfield State (19-14) at 8 p.m.
EMPIRE 8 RECAP: The Golden Flyers were efficient in winning over the weekend at Stevens, They defeated Elmira by scores of 26-24, 25-16, 25-20 and Stevens by scores of 25-20, 21-25, 27-25, 25-23. Nazareth hit a combined .318 (100-26-233) for the two matches and featured a balanced offensive attack that saw three players total 20 kills or better...
Maria Allocco, a 6-foot-1 junior, was named tournament MVP for the third year in a row after finishing with a .432 hitting percentage (20-4-37) with eight blocks.
Jennifer Hicks, a 5-foot-11 sophomore, was even more effeicient with a .545 hitting percentage (21-3-33) and made the E8 all-tournament team.
Chelsea Beecher, a 5-foot-8 junior, also represented the Golden Flyers on the all-tournament team with a .291 hitting percentage (20-4-55), including a match-high 14 kills against Stevens... Freshman setter
Madi Wickens amassed 69 assists (9.86 per set) and 20 digs (2.86 per set) and freshman libero
Maureen Thayer had 36 digs (5.14 per set).
EMPIRE 8 ALL-STARS: Allocco and junior
Kassandra Buseck were first-team all-conference selections last week. Allocco made the first team for the second year in a row as she leads the conference and ranks in the top 10 nationally with a .394 hitting percentage (314-70-620). She also has 50 service aces and a teambest 81 blocks. Buseck, a 5-foot-9 right side hitter, leads the Golden Flyers in kills with 346 (2.72 per set) to go with 67 blocks... Wickens was a second-team selection with a team-high 838 assists (7.55 per set).
SCOUTING NYU: The Violets (27-7) compete in the rugged University Athletic Association and gained an at-large berth to the tournament after posting a 6-4 conference mark. Nazareth and NYU played on Nov. 1 at a neutral site (RIT) in the New York Regional Challenge and the Violets won in five sets (23-25, 25-21, 25-15, 15-25, 15-12) as Alexandria Mao had 19 kills and 19 digs. Mao, a 5-foot-9 outside hitter, leads the team with 361 kills (3.22 per set). Emily Moore, a 5-foot-9 sophomore setter, has 980 assists (9.42 per set) and MaTia Hughes, a 5-foot-5 freshman, has 518 digs.
NAZARETH AGAINST THE FIELD: The Golden Flyers have played four other tournament qualifiers in addition to NYU. Nazareth defeated Richard Stockton in three sets ((25-22, 25-23, 25-22) on Aug. 31, lost to Mount Union in three sets (25-19, 25-18, 25-15) on Sept. 7, lost to Clarkson in four sets (25-4, 25-12, 23-25, 25-20) on Nov. 2 and split a pair of matches with Buffalo State. They lost to Buffalo State in four sets at home (20-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-23) on Oct. 5, then won in fur on the road (25-23, 14-25, 25-22, 27-25) on Oct. 16.
NAZARETH COACH CAL WICKENS: Now in his 11th season with the Golden Flyers, Wickens has a record of 253-158 (.616) over that stretch with six NCAA Tournament appearances.He's been named E8 Coach of the Year three times (2006, 2011, 2012). He's also coached the Nazareth men's team for nine seasons (222-71, .758) and guided the Golden Flyers to a national title in 2011. He was named national Coach of the Year in 2011 and 2013.