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ELMIRA, N.Y. -- Using a tidy .276 hitting percentage (46-14-117), visiting Nazareth swept Elmira Tuesday in an Empire 8 women's volleyball match. The Golden Flyers won by scores of 25-17, 25-20, 25-21.
Nazareth has one more conference match left -- Wednesday at home against Utica at 7 p.m. on Senior Night -- and could clinch the number two seed in next week's conference tournament with a victory. Nazareth is 18-10 overall and 6-1 in E8 matches. Elmira is 11-18 overall and 2-6 in the E8.
Senior
Carmen Sapp posted a match-best 12 kills, including five in the opening set, as Nazareth jumped ahead. Senior
Kelsey Milligan added 10 kills and now is 16 away from reaching 1,000 for her career. Juniors
Melissa Newcomb and
Delaney Martin added seven and six kills respectively.
Sophomore
Jessica Barry had 36 assists and sophomore
Savannah Bothner had 20 digs.
Sapp delivered five of her kills in the opening set as Nazareth started well. She added four more kills in the second set, while Bothner added six of her digs. Nazareth never trailed in the first two sets. A six-point flurry in the first set turned a 6-6 tie into a 12-6 Nazareth lead. Bothner had two aces and Milligan and
Melissa Newcomb each had kills to fuel the run.
Nazareth had a steady lead throughout the second set, although Elmira drew to within 21-19 late in the frame. Nazareth pulled away, thanks to kills by
Celia Cordero and Milligan in addition to a service ace from
Danielle Synowski.
In the third set, four different players had three kills -- Sapp, Newcomb,
Madison Joseph and
Margorie Didas -- and Bothner amassed nine more digs. Elmira led 18-17, then Nazareth scored the next five points to take control as Sapp and Didas had two kills each.
The Golden Flyers will recognize their five seniors on Wednesday -- Cordero, Didas, Joseph, Milligan and Sapp.