Naz Wins; Ithaca Splits; Utica Falls
NAZARETH
Nazareth defeated Whittier in its first match of the 2014 Leopard Invitational, hosted by La Verne University, in three sets by the scores of 25-18, 25-22, 32-30 on Friday evening. The Golden Flyers closed the night with a four-set victory over Pomona-Pitzer with the scores of 25-21, 12-25, 25-14, 25-21. Nazareth played Friday's matches at Pomona-Pitzer in Claremont and will play Saturday's matches at La Verne against Virginia Wesleyan at 4:30 (EST) and La Verne at 7 p.m. (EST).
With the victories, the Golden Flyers stretch their winning streak to nine matches and improve to 17-5 overall. Nazareth is 17-1 in its last 18 matches with its lone loss coming to Fredonia in five sets midway through September. Whittier falls to 6-10 overall with the loss, while Pomona-Pitzer had its three-match winning streak snapped by Nazareth and slips to 11-7 overall.
Against Whittier, Allocco finished with a match-high 13 kills, including seven kills with no errors in the third set. Buseck tallied 12 kills, including seven in the opening set. Classmate
Olivia Harrigan and junior
Jennifer Hicks each added nine kills. Sophomores
Cady Messmer and
Maureen Thayer chipped in five kills and one kill, respectively. Sophomore
Madi Wickens amassed a match-high 44 assists directing the Golden Flyers' attack.
Nazareth converted at least 13 kills in each set to take control of the match. The Golden Flyers had hitting percentages of .233 (15 kills, 5 errors, 43 attempts), .022 (13 kills, 12 errors, 45 attempts), and .286 (21 kills, 7 errors, 49 attempts) over the course of the match.
Defensively, the Golden Flyers held the Poets to hitting percentages of .000 (8 kills, 8 errors, 39 attempts) and .125 (8 kills, 4 errors, 32 attempts) before allowing Whittier to hit .209 in the third set (14 kills, 5 errors, 43 attempts). Senior
Katherine Race amassed a match-high 18 digs while Harrigan tallied 14 digs and Messmer added 12 additional digs. At the net, Nazareth finished with 12 as ninsisted blocks to stymie Whittier attacks. Allocco and Harrigan finished with three assisted blocks apiece.
In the first set, the Golden Flyers pulled away by scoring 12 of the final 18 points after holding a 13-12 edge. Set two was tied at 22 points apiece before Nazareth recorded the final three points. Messmer and Hicks had consecutive kills, then Whittier was whistled for an illegal set. The largest lead either team held in the second set was three points. Similar to the second set, the third set featured the teams trading points with neither team able to go on a scoring run until later in the set. The Golden Flyers stretched their lead to 20-16 following a kill by Harrigan, an assisted block by Buseck and Allocco, and an ace by Thayer. The Poets, however, rallied with seven of the next 10 points to tie the set at 23 apiece. Eventual back-to-back kills from Allocco and Hicks secured Nazareth's victory.
Against Pomona-Pitzer, the Golden Flyers demonstrated their balanced attack with five players recording at least seven kills. Buseck finished with a team-high 14 kills, followed by Allocco with 13, Harrigan with 10, Hicks with nine, and Messmer with seven. As Nazareth's primary setter, Wickens finished with 43 assists.
Wickens was also a force on the defensive end as she tallied 10 digs and three assisted blocks. The Golden Flyers had three additional players who amassed at least three assisted blocks. Allocco recorded a solo block and three assisted blocks while Hicks had four assisted blocks. Buseck added three assisted blocks, too. Harrigan recorded a team-high 11 digs.
The largest lead of the first set was three points, 8-5 in favor of the Sagehens, until Nazareth used a 5-0 scoring run to change an 18-18 tie into a 23-18 advantage. The Golden Flyers won the match on a kill by Messmer and an attack error by the Sagehens. Messmer finished the opening set with five kills. Pomona-Pitzer dominated the second set with a .636 hitting percentage as they pounded 16 kills with only two hitting errors. By comparison, Nazareth finished the set with nine kills and four hitting errors for a .156 attack percentage.
In the third set, the score was tied at 10 points apiece before the Golden Flyers scored 15 of the final 19 points. The scoring run featured 11 Nazareth kills, a pair of service aces by Messmer, and a pair of attack errors by the Sagehens. Hicks, Harrigan, Buseck, and Allocco each had four kills and combined for only three hitting errors during the set. The Golden Flyers recorded a hitting percentage of .343 (18 kills, 6 errors, 35 attempts) for the set. Meanwhile, Nazareth held Pomona-Pitzer to a .000 hitting percentage by allowing only five kills and forcing five errors.
The Golden Flyers trailed 9-4 in the fourth set before an 8-3 run allowed them to tie the set. After trading points, Nazareth used a 4-0 run to claim an 18-14 lead. A kill by Buseck and an assisted block by Buseck and Hicks gave the Golden Flyers the final two points they needed for the victory.
ITHACA
The Ithaca College volleyball team split the first day of the Ithaca Invitational on Friday evening, picking up a four-set win over Wells (25021, 20-25, 25-20, 25-21) before falling to Carnegie Mellon (15-25, 22-25, 22-25) in three sets. Ithaca's 10-game win streak was snapped in the loss to the Tartans, a streak that started with a 3-0 win over St. Joseph's on Sept. 13. The Bombers are now 16-4 on the season.
The Bombers made quick work of Wells in the opening match of the tournament, dropping the Express in four sets. Senior
Rylie Bean led all players with 17 kills, while freshmen
Caroline Gerulskis and
Joelle Goldstein chipped in with 12 and seven, respectively. Freshman
Kayla Gromen dished out 39 assists in the victory, the most of any player in the match.
Sophomore
Maggie Mutschler paced the Bombers with 17 digs. Gromen and bean each contributed double-digit digs, recording 11 and 10, respectively.
Wells started the first set on a 5-1 run, eventually taking a 7-3 lead on the Bombers. Ithaca answered with four-straight points to tie the contest, before taking its first lead at 9-8. The Bombers pushed their lead to 21-14, before Wells pulled off five-straight points to put the score at 21-19. Despite the rally, the Bombers pushed ahead and ended the set with a Bean kill to go up, 1-0.
Wells would take the second set, 25-20, evening the contest at 1-1. After trailing early once again in the third set, the Bombers jumped out to a 12-10 lead thanks to a six point run. The Express took their final lead at 14-12, before Ithaca pulled ahead for good on a kill from Bean to make it 15-14. The Bombers rolled from that point in, eventually taking the set.
Wells came out strong in the fourth set, taking a late 19-15 lead on the Bombers thanks to a six-point run. Ithaca responded with a 10-2 run to close the match, with
Katie Hartman earning the last two kills to secure the final set.
The Bombers dropped their second match of the day, falling to the Tartans of Carnegie Mellon in three sets to end their 10-game win streak.
Bean once again had a solid outing, tying for the team lead in kills (10) with Goldstein. Gromen paced the team with 27 assists, and also ranked first on the roster with 12 digs. Mutschler ranked second with eight digs.
The Bombers jumped out on Carnegie Mellon early, taking a quick 7-0 lead on the Tartans in the opening set. However, Carnegie Mellon stormed back, taking a 9-8 lead on a 9-1 run. The Tartans continued to roll, eventually taking the opening set by a score of 25-15.
Both teams battled evenly in the second set. Trailing by a score of 18-22, Ithaca reeled off four-straight points to even the set at 22-22. Despite Ithaca's momentum, the Tartans scored three-straight points to take the second set.
Carnegie Mellon carried its momentum into the third set, eventually defeating the Bombers 25-22 for the straight-set victory.
UTICA
The Utica College volleyball team dropped its opening matches at the Ithaca College Invitational Friday as it fell to Kings College 3-1 and Wells College 3-0.
In the loss to Kings, the Pioneers narrowly dropped the first set, falling 25-20 to the Monarchs. Utica rebounded to take the second set 25-11, however could not swing the momentum as Kings went on to take the next two sets and secure the 3-1 victory.
Freshman
Alaina Wickwire led Utica with 12 kills and added 17 digs, followed by junior
Laura Homer-Gunther, who had eight kill, and four total blocks. Five players had 10 or more digs, led by senior
Briona Enny (26), Wickwire,
Lora Allen (12),
Brandi Blaszak (10), and
Alexis Lyon (10). Allen also helped out with 30 assists for the Pioneers.
In the second match of the day, the Pioneers fell to Wells College in straight sets, 25-17, 25-19, 25-17.
Blaszak led the squad with seven kills, followed by
Wickwire (five), and
Samantha Hoerning (four).
Enny once again led the team in digs (11) and
Allen posted a team-best 18 assists.