Naz, SJFC and Ithaca Outlast Competition
NAZARETH 3, HOUGHTON 2
Nazareth outlasted visiting Houghton in five sets in a women's Empire 8 volleyball match on Wednesday evening. The scores were 27-19, 25-16, 26-24, 23-25, 15-9. Seniors
Kassandra Buseck and
Maria Allocco each recorded career-highs in kills with 25 kills and 21 kills, respectively. Sophomore
Madi Wickens amassed 68 assists, falling only two shy of the school-record of 70, and classmate
Maureen Thayer had 31 digs.
With the victory, the Golden Flyers improve to 11-5 overall and 3-0 in the Empire 8. Following the loss, the Highlanders slip to 8-6 overall and 1-2 in conference matches.
In addition to the kills from Buseck and Allocco, senior
Olivia Harrigan recorded 15 kills and junior
Jennifer Hicks had 11 kills. Sophomore
Cady Messmer also had eight kills while Wickens chipped in another kill. Sophomore
Rachel Williamson had three of Nazareth's eight service aces, Thayer had two, and Wickens, Allocco, and sophomore
Brianna Spears each had one.
Defensively, the Golden Flyers frustrated Houghton as they amassed 83 digs. Following Thayer's 31 digs, Wickens (12 digs), senior
Katherine Race (11 digs), and Harrigan (10 digs) all finished in double figures in the category. Allocco had two solo blocks and an assisted block to lead Nazareth at the net. Buseck tallied a solo block and two assisted blocks while Hicks had one solo and one assisted block.
In the opening set, the Golden Flyers pounded 21 kills, but their 12 hitting errors prevented them from taking the set. Houghton finished the set with 11 kills but had only two hitting errors. Nazareth took control of the second set by dropping their hitting errors to only three while connecting on 15 kills. The Golden Flyers' defense allowed the Highlanders only two kills and forced six errors on 25 attempts. In the third set, Nazareth connected on 18 kills. The Highlanders responded in the fourth set by amassing 13 kills and only three errors while the Golden Flyers had nine hitting errors. The Golden Flyers rebounded in the fifth set with 13 kills on 24 attempts.
ST. JOHN FISHER 3, Medaille 1
The St. John Fisher volleyball team came back to win 3-1 against visiting Medaille College on Wednesday evening on Bobby Wanzer Court.
The Mavericks took the first set 25-19 before the Cardinals won the following three 25-21, 25-16 and 25-20. In the third set, the Cardinals recorded a .414 hit percentage with 14 kills on 29 total attempts and just two attack errors.
Defense shone throughout the game with four players tallying double-digit digs.
Katie Mazierski and
Jordan DeMartino led the way with 17 and 16, respectively, while
Erin Crandall and
Madison Karwas added 12 apiece.
Karwas also led in kills with 10.
Anna Marcy (9) and
Paige Willson (8) totaled 17 additional kills. Willson added to her team-leading total in blocks with seven, her most in a single game this season.
Erica Stickler and
Brooke Meader recorded 18 and 12 assists, respectively.
ITHACA 3, Keuka 0
The Ithaca College volleyball team defeated Keuka in three sets on Wednesday night. Scores were 25-18, 25-19 and 25-20. Ithaca has now won five consecutive matches. The Bombers return to Empire 8 action on Oct. 3 at Alfred. Ithaca is 11-3 overall on the season, its best start through 14 matches since 2007.
Ithaca hit .188 in the match with 28 kills in 80 attacks.
Joelle Goldstein and
Rylie Bean led the Bombers with seven kills each.
Kayla Gromen had 23 assists. Defensively for Ithaca,
Dylan Gawinski Stern had eight digs and
Maggie Mutschler added seven digs. Ithaca totaled 15.5 blocks, with eight solo blocks, led by five solo blocks from
Katie Hartman. Gromen served two aces in the win.
Alfred State 3, ELMIRA 0
The Elmira College women's volleyball team (2-11) dropped a non-conference road match to Alfred State (11-2) tonight, 3-0. Elmira will be back in action this Friday, September 26th when the Soaring Eagles travel to Utica, NY to compete in the SUNY IT Tournament where the Purple and Gold will open tournament play against tournament host, SUNY IT.
Elmira's struggles on offense continued tonight as the Soaring Eagles were only able to make good on 22-of-87 attack attempts.
Kierstin Derr '16 led Elmira with eight kills while
Sami Hanes '16 registered 20 assists, 10 digs, and two aces, all of which were team highs.
Alfred State's win tonight gives the Pioneers a 2-1 edge in the all-time series against the Soaring Eagles after the two teams traded victories last season.