Box Score l Updated Stats

ROCHESTER, NY – Host Nazareth needed just three sets against Houghton College to win its Empire 8 Conference opener Wednesday night at Kidera Gymnasium.  The Golden Flyers won 25-23, 25-20, 25-19.

Nazareth improves to 9-3 overall with the win and 1-0 in the Empire 8, while Houghton drops to 4-5 and 0-1, respectively.

Nazareth scored the 12 of the first 13 points of the opening set and built its lead to 16-4.  Houghton stormed all the way back to tie the score at 22 apiece, however,  Nazareth re-grouped to get kills from Carmen Sapp, Cady Messmer and Melissa Newcomb to take the set.

In the second set, Nazareth hit .317 with 18 kills on 41 attempts with just five errors to win 25-20.

The Golden Flyers had just three errors in the third set and hit .297 with 14 kills.

Kelsey Milligan put down 10 kills on 20 attempts with just two errors (.400).  She also had two blocks.

Sarah McMahon had an efficient outing, hitting .417 with five kills.  Messmer chipped in 11 kills and 12 digs.

Newcomb went with seven kills and three blocks.  Maureen Thayer dished out 41 assists and had 13 digs.

Nazareth continues Empire 8 play at Stevens over the weekend for a conference tri-match.  The Golden Flyers take on Stevens at 11 a.m., followed by Ithaca at 1:30 p.m.