SPI box l Wells box
ELMIRA, N.Y. -- Nazareth's men's volleyball team, ranked sixth in the most recent AVCA poll, opened the Elmira Tournament with a pair of three-set victories. The Golden Flyers knocked off SUNY Polytechnic Institute by the scores of 25-11, 25-23, 25-21 before defeating Wells by the scores of 25-20, 25-18, 25-12. Nazareth used a balanced attack in Friday's matches as 11 Golden Flyers recorded at least one kill both matches.

With the victories, Nazareth improves to 16-3 overall. SUNY Polytechnic falls to 10-7 overall with the loss, and Wells drops to 7-11 overall with the loss. The Golden Flyers resume the Elmira Tournament Saturday at 12 p.m. when they play Stevenson.

Against the SUNY Polytechnic, junior Tim Zyburt made an immediate impact in the opening set by tallying all seven of his kills on only seven total attempts. Junior Josh Hieb added two kills in the set while classmate Brody Cord and sophomore Kane Wittorff each added one kill. Nazareth finished with a .444 attack percentage by converting 11 of 18 attempts with only three errors. Defensively, the Golden Flyers stymied SUNY Poly. by limiting the Wildcats to four kills and forcing five hitting errors.

In the second set, Cord led Nazareth with three kills. Six additional players recorded a kill in the set. Hieb and sophomore Robert Sarneckis each had two kills wile Luke Lawatsch, Wittorff, McDonagh, and Sam Bittker chipped in one kill apiece. With 11 kills on 26 attempts and six errors, the Golden Flyers' attack cooled to a percentage of .192. Nazareth continued to force a multitude of Wildcat errors. SUNY Poly. had a set-high 12 kills, but it also had seven hitting errors. The Golden Flyers built a 21-17 lead after an ace by Sarneckis, and they extended it to 24-19 on a kill by Cord. The Wildcats scored four consecutive points to close to within 24-23, but Nazareth claimed the set on a ball handling error by SUNY Polytechnic.

Bittker tallied a set-high six kills in the third set. Junior Chris Mahan added four kills with no errors while freshman Pat Stroh recorded three kills. Junior Bobby Beeman and Wittorff added two kills and one kill, respectively. As a team, Nazareth converted a match-high 16 kills. The Golden Flyers' defense limited the Wildcats' kills to just half of that. A kill from Bittker gave Nazareth the early 10-6 lead, and Beeman's ace stretched it to five points moments later. SUNY Poly. closed to within one point, 20-19, but the Golden Flyers answered with five of the final seven points to earn the win.

Lawatsch and Hieb both made an impact at the net as each player had four total blocks. Beeman finished with four service aces to help Nazareth to a 6-1 advantage in the category. Senior Nick McDonagh amassed a match-high 27 assists as Nazareth's primary setter. In addition to leading the team in assists, McDonagh also had a team-high four digs.

A.J. Davids and Evan Smith each had six kills to lead the Wildcats. Jeff Knapp and Zach Goggin split the setting duties as both players tallied seven assists. Piotr Kasza had a match-high six digs.

Against the Express, Hieb, Cord, and Bittker each had six kills in two sets of playing time. Lawatsch added four kills on four attempts in his one set of action, and Mahan had four kills in three sets.

In the first set, Cord tallied four kills with zero hitting errors to lead the Golden Flyers. Beeman had three kills, and Hieb recorded two. For the majority of the set, Wells stayed within three points of Nazareth's potent attack. The Golden Flyers stretched their lead to five points, 24-19, on an assisted block by Cord, Mahan, and Beeman. A kill by Cord secured the win.

Nazareth took control midway through the second set. After the set was tied 12-12, the Golden Flyers tallied eight of the next 10 points to claim a 20-14 advantage. Hieb had a pair of kills to start the run, which also included a kill by Sarneckis and Mahan. The Express also committed four attack errors. An assisted block by Mahan and freshman Jake Kemp caused one of the errors. Nazareth stretched its lead to 24-16 following a kill by Hieb before taking the set 25-18.

In the third set, Lawatsch and Bittker combined for nine kills and only one hitting error on 12 total attempts to lead the Golden Flyers' dominance. Nazareth's defense held Wells to an attack percentage of -.241 as the Express had only three kills and 10 hitting errors. After Wells tied the set at four points apiece, the Golden Flyers scored nine of the next 10 points to take a commanding 13-5 lead. Lawatsch gave Nazareth its first double-digit lead, 18-8, with a kill off an assist from Kemp. Kemp tallied a match-high 27 assists.

Alex Battey finished with a match-high eight kills with one error on 15 attempts for Wells. Scott Litvin had 18 assists, and Jack Battumur tallied a match-high 10 digs.