Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Tournament site | Whittier box | Pomona-Pitzer box | Updated stats
CLAREMONT, CA -- 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.