Freshman Owen Wickens combined a match-best 20 kills with four service aces and nine digs Wednesday as host Nazareth knocked off seventh-ranked St. John Fisher in four sets in men's volleyball,. Scores were 25-23, 25-10, 23-25, 25-21. The United Volleyball Conference win improved the Golden Flyers' overall record to 2-0, while Fisher dropped to 0-2. The teams meet again March 17 again at Nazareth.
Wickens' 20 kills came with just five hitting errors on 42 attempts for a .357 hitting percentage. Senior Antonio Sargent added 11 kills and sophomore setter Trent Caviness amassed 39 assists. Caviness and sophomore Seth Terzo each had 12 digs.
Trailing 22-19 late in the opening set, Nazareth rallied for a two-point win, thanks to a kill from Sargent and two blocks by Kaleb Luton. Wickens had three of Nazareth's six service aces as the Golden Flyers dominated the second set.
After dropping the third set, Nazareth pulled away to take the fourth and deciding set as Wickens produced eight of his kills. The set was tied at 8-8, before Wickens scored on back-to-back kills to give the Golden Flyers the lead for good. After an exchange of service errors, Nazareth saw its lead slip to 24-21 before sophomore Nate Allen sealed the victory with his seventh kill of the match.
Nazareth totaled 12.5 blocks with Luton accounting for seven and Wickens four. Fisher, as a result, managed only 23 kills over the four sets and had a .000 hitting percentage.