Box l Updated Stats

Hoboken, NJ- Second-seeded Nazareth College fell in straight sets to top-seeded Stevens 19-25, 18-25, 14-25 in Sunday's Empire 8 Championship game, behind a .333 hitting percentage from the Ducks (42 kills, 9 errors, 99 attempts).  The Golden Flyers also lost in straight sets during the regular season at Stevens, 20-25, 23-25, 26-28.

Nazareth was making its first appearance in the Empire 8 Championship since the 2014 season, when it lost to the Ducks.  The 2014 season was also the last time that Stevens won the Empire 8 title. 

Nazareth finishes the season 21-13, while Stevens improves to 26-7 and earns the Empire 8 Conference's bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Kelsey Milligan and Jessica Barry were Nazareth's representatives on the All-Tournament Team.

A string of seven points in the first set helped Stevens break open a 9-9 tie and take a 16-9 advantage that the Golden Flyers could not recover from. 

Stevens had 17 kills on a .368 attack percentage in the first set, while Nazareth had 13 on .216, respectively.

Nazareth struggled hitting in the second set (-.118), with just seven kills on 34 attempts to go along with 11 errors. 

A service ace from Carmen Sapp cut Stevens lead to 13-10, however, Stevens scored five of the next six points to re-establish momentum that the Golden Flyers could not get back. 

In the third set, Nazareth hung tough in the beginning with a block from Carmen Sapp and Melissa Newcomb, bringing the second seed to within 12-11.  Stevens used another one of its runs to score the next six points, deflating the Golden Flyers momentum.

Nazareth finished with 28 kills on 108 attempts, with 21 errors for a .065 attack percentage.

Milligan led Nazareth with seven kills (.263), while Sapp had six (.211). 

Savannah Bothner held strong defensively with a game-high 19 digs.

Barry dished out 21 assists and had seven digs.