Nazareth and Alfred Advance in Opening Round Games of 2021 Empire 8 Spring Women's Volleyball Tourney

Women's Volleyball | 4/20/2021 9:24:49 PM

No. 3 seed Nazareth College and No. 5 seed Alfred University advanced in the opening round of the 2021 Empire 8 Spring Women's Volleyball Championship on Tuesday, April 20. Nazareth rolled to a 25-8, 25-14, 25-13 win over No. 6 seed Utica College, while Alfred rallied to win an instant classic over No. 4 seed Houghton in five sets. Alfred won set one, 25-20 before Houghton won the next two, 25-23, 25-19. Alfred took set four 25-21 and rallied from 10-5 to storm back and win the fifth and decisive set, 15-12.

Nazareth will head to No. 2 seed Elmira College to take on the Soaring Eagles in one semifinal Thursday evening at 6 p.m., while Alfred travels north to face top-seed St. John Fisher College in the second semifinal at 7 p.m.

NO. 3 NAZARETH 3, NO. 6 UTICA 0
Junior Olivia Quick registered 10 kills on 11 attempts and added eight assists and three service aces Tuesday as third-seeded Nazareth made short work of sixth-seeded Utica in a women's volleyball match by winning in three efficient sets. Scores were 25-8, 25-14, 25-13.

The victory, in a first-round match of the Empire 8 Conference Tournament played at Nazareth's Kidera Gym, improved Nazareth's overall record to 5-2 and sets up a semifinal date at second-seeded Elmira Thursday night. Utica finished 1-4 overall.

Against Utica, Nazareth had 37 kills overall against just eight hitting errors on 70 swings for a .414 hitting percentage. Quick's percentage of .909 was the most efficient. Sophomore Kaylee Kelly added eight kills and three aces and Eva Lyko added six kills on seven attempts for a .857 success rate.

Quick had four kills in each of the first two sets to help Nazareth take a commanding two-set advantage. Nazareth added 15 kills in the third set with Kelly, Lyko and Julia Cavanaugh each generating three.

Other statistics included 21 assists for freshman setter Kelly Taylor, nine digs for sophomore libero Kelsey Ludwig, five kills and six digs for McKenzie Hart and three blocks for Cavanaugh.

NO. 5 ALFRED 3, NO. 4 HOUGHTON 2
No. 5 seed Alfred battled back from a 10-5 deficit in the fifth and final set, ending the match on a 10-2 run to pull out a dramatic, five-set win over No. 4 seed Houghton. The Saxons earned a 25-20 win in the opening set before Houghton won the next two sets, 25-23, 25-19. Alfred won a back-and-forth fourth set, 25-21 before setting up the fifth set heroics.

Sarah Raeman led the Saxons with 17 kills, five blocks and two service aces, while Honor Edmands added 12 kills, five blocks and a pair of aces. Amanda Burns dished out 31 assists, while Darian Ortiz led all players with 27 digs and four service aces. Jamie Chun added 21 digs, while Rylee Russin compiled 15 digs and nine kills.

Jenna Bittinger led Houghton with 15 kills and six service aces, while Haley Unverdorben dished out 41 assists and recorded 13 digs. Brooke Decker compiled 13 kills, four blocks and three aces. Alyssa Lyon recorded a double-double with 19 digs and 12 kills.

In what was an incredibly even match, both teams scored 69 points, Alfred had 90 digs to Houghton's 89, while recording 48 kills to Hougnhton's 47. Alfred won the block battle, 10-8, while Houghton had 14 aces to Alfred's 11.

Elmira defeated semfinal opponent Nazareth in four sets in the season-opening match on March 15, while St. John Fisher took a pair of meetings over Alfred (3-1, 3-0) earlier in the regular season on March 28.