J & W Box Score l Santa Cruz Box Score  Updated Stats | Tournament site
ROCHESTER, NY – No. 10 Nazareth opened Saturday with a four set win over Johnson and Wales, 25-22, 23-25, 25-23, 25-15 in the Golden Flyer Invitational before falling on the losing end in four against No. 4 UC Santa Cruz, 25-19, 15-25, 23-25, 21-25. 

Nazareth moves to 7-4 on the season with the split. 

In the opening match Zachary Gillard and Sam Bittker combined for 30 kills to propel the offense.  

Leading 22-21 in the first set, Nazareth got a big kill from Bittker.  He had a team-high seven kills on 15 attempts in the set.

Nazareth doomed itself in the second set with nine hitting errors, allowing the Wildcats to earn the win.  Trevor Gooch provided a spark with six kills on a .500 hitting percentage.

With the score at 9-9 in the third set, Gillard notched two straight kills to gain momentum. The Wildcats evened the score at 18 before Gillard came up with another timely kill.  He eventually had the game-winning kill to take the set.  The junior finished with a .294 attack percentage in the match.

In the fourth and final set Nazareth won four straight points to break a 7-7 tie to seize control.  Robert Sarneckis and Ethan Ross combined or a block to make it 20-12. 

Bittker hit .346 in the win. 

Luis Vazquez led the way with 12 digs and Tyler Farnung contributed four service aces.

Jake Kemp had 48 assists.

Nazareth trailed 17-14 in the opening set against Santa Cruz but rattled off 11 of the last 13 points to earn the win.  Senior Tom Keisling put the pressure on the Banana Slugs with five straight serves that resulted in Nazareth points.  Kane Wittorff ended the set with a service ace. 

Set two belonged the visitors as they jumped out to a 14-9 advantage and never looked back. 

In the third set, Nazareth clawed back from a 14-10 to make it 15-14 following a Farnung ace.  Santa Cruz regained some distance and a service error from the Golden Flyers halted lengthening the set at the end.

The Banana Slugs built another early lead 9-5 in the fourth, only to have Nazareth string together seven of eight points for a 12-10 advantage.  Santa Cruz returned the favor with a similar run down the stretch to cap off the victory.

Gillard put down eight kills (.086), followed by seven apiece from Bittker (.000) and Keisling (.176).

Kemp dished out 32 assists, while Vazquez added 10 digs.

Nazareth returns to action on Friday at Elmira when it will play Lasell and Southern Vermont.