Box
HOBOKEN, N.J. -- Second-seeded Nazareth defeated third-seeded Elmira in three sets in an Empire 8 semifinal volleyball match on Saturday. The scores of the match were 26-24, 25-16, 25-20. Sophomore
Jennifer Hicks had 11 kills on 14 attempts with only one attack error to lead the Golden Flyers. Hicks finished with a .714 hitting percentage.
With the victory, Nazareth improves to 28-8 overall and advances to Sunday's Empire 8 Championship match against top-seeded Stevens. The Ducks defeated fourth-seeded Ithaca 25-16, 25-20, 25-12 in Saturday's first semifinal. The winner of Sunday's match receives an automatic bid into the upcoming NCAA Tournament. The Golden Flyers are the current conference champions as they won the Empire 8 Tournament in 2011 and 2012. When Nazareth played Stevens on October 3rd at Elmira, the Ducks defeated the Golden Flyers in four sets by the scores of 27-25, 18-25, 25-15, 25-19. The regular season match was originally set for the weekend of September 20th and 21st during the Empire 8 Cross-over at Hartwick, but a power outage forced the contest to be rescheduled.
In addition to the kills from Hicks, six additional players also recorded kills for Nazareth's attack. Juniors
Kassandra Buseck and
Maria Allocco each recorded seven kills and only two hitting errors apiece while classmates
Chelsea Beecher and
Olivia Harrigan each tallied six kills. Freshman
Madi Wickens and senior
Christy Burczak added three kills and one kill, respectively. Wickens amassed a match-high 29 assists to direct Nazareth's offense.
Defensively, freshman
Maureen Thayer recorded 29 digs and classmate
Cady Messmer chipped in eight digs. Hicks, Allocco, and Wickens also each tallied two assisted blocks and Harrigan and Buseck had one assisted block apiece.
The Golden Flyers also had a 10-4 advantage in service aces. Harrigan and Thayer each recorded three aces, Burczak had two aces, and junior
Katherine Race and Wickens each had one ace.
Taryn Rumsey finished with 11 kills on 28 attempts to lead the Soaring Eagles' offense. Sami Hanes recorded 28 assists, and Catherine Miller had a team-high 12 digs. Hanes also recorded three of Elmira's four service aces.
Sunday's 12 p.m. Empire 8 Championship can be viewed on
Empire8.tv and followed on
Live Stats.