Hunter Box l Kean Box l Updated Stats
KEAN, N.J. – No. 7 Nazareth rallied for a five set win over Hunter College, before falling in four sets to host Kean on Saturday to close out the Clash of Kean tournament.  The Golden Flyers rallied 18-25, 21-25, 25-23, 25-15, 15-12 in its opening match.  Immediately following the first match, the Golden Flyers fell 19-25, 25-22, 17-25, 24-26 to No. 10 Kean.

Nazareth, losers of two-of-three tournament games, falls to 5-3 on the year. 

Sophomore Zachary Gillard had 17 kills and junior setter Jake Kemp amassed 53 assists in the opening contest.  Gillard was named to the All-Tournament team.

After dropping the first two sets, Nazareth was on the verge of getting swept by falling behind 16-13 in the third set. Nazareth rallied, though, and finally took the lead at 18-17 on a kill by freshman Sean Dillion. Hunter stayed close and was within 24-23 before Gillard secured a kill on set point.

Nazareth dominated the fourth set and the teams were tied 12-12 in the fifth when the Golden Flyers scored the last three point to win the match. A pair of Hunter hitting errors and a kill by Tom Keisling sealed the deal for Nazareth.

In addition to his 17 kills, Gillard had two service aces and five blocks. Keisling added 13 kills and Kane Wittroff had nine. Freshman libero Luis Vazquez had 14 digs.

In its second match of the day, Nazareth hit .130 with 37 kills on 100 attempts, finishing with 24 errors.

Trailing 20-16 in the fourth set, Nazareth was able to square the match at 23.  Facing match point, Robert Sarneckis and Dillon were able to even the score.  Kean, however, notched the final two points to seal the victory. 

Gillard once again led the way with 11 kills.  Sam Bittker was efficient with seven kills on nine attempts (.667).

Vasquez had 11 digs and Kemp dished out 31 assists.