Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Lakeland box | Stevenson box
UTICA, N.Y. -- Nazareth opened the SUNY Polytechnic Invitational with a pair of victories on Friday night. The Golden Flyers began with a three-set sweep of Lakeland then defeated fifth-ranked Stevenson in four sets on Friday night. Seventh-ranked Nazareth downed Lakeland by the scores of 25-17, 25-10, and 25-21. The Golden Flyers' scores against Stevenson were 25-22, 29-31, 25-20, 25-15. Senior Tom Keisling had a team-high 11 kills against Lakeland and finished with 14 kills against Stevenson.

With the victories, Nazareth improves to 3-0 overall. Following the loss, Lakeland drops to 0-1 and Stevenson falls 1-1 overall.

In Nazareth's match against Lakeland, sophomore Zachary Gillard tallied seven kills and Kane Wittorff, Robert Sarneckis, and Ethan Ross recorded five kills apiece. Junior Jake Kemp amassed a team-high 36 assists directing the Golden Flyers' attack.

Defensively, freshman Luis Vazquez had a team-high 13 digs, and Keisling added eight digs, a solo block, and four assisted blocks. Freshman Sean Dillon recorded five assisted blocks, too.

The Muskies were led by Matt Stolz, who tallied seven kills, and Addison Mertler, who had 20 assists.

The Golden Flyers used a balanced attack to defeat the Mustangs in their second match of the night. Junior Sam Bittker amassed a team-high 15 kills, and Keisling was second on the team with 14 kills. Gillard and Wittorff also finished in double-digits in kills with 12 and 11, respectively. Similar to the first match, Kemp directed the majority of Nazareth's offense and finished with 48 assists. Vazquez added five assists.

On the defensive side of the net, Vazquez tallied a team-high 12 digs while Keisling recorded eight digs. Bittker and Ross were each a force at the net. Bittker had one solo block and four assisted blocks, and Ross finished with four assisted blocks.

The Golden Flyers resume action in Utica on Saturday when Nazareth faces Elms at 1 p.m. and Wentworth at 3 p.m.