Wells Box | Cal Lutheran Box l Tournament site
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Nazareth opened the Golden Flyer Invitational with a three-set sweep of Wells before falling to Cal Lutheran in three sets. Against Wells, Nazareth posted a sparkling .545 hitting percentage (41-5-66) and defeated the Express by scores of 25-17, 25-20, 25-10. In their second match of the day against the Kingsmen, the Golden Flyers' hitting percentage dropped to .209 as Cal Lutheran swept the match by the scores of 25-21, 25-17, 25-21.

Following Friday's matches, Nazareth stands at 8-6 overall. Wells fell to 7-4 after its loss to the Golden Flyers, and Cal Lutheran improved to 7-3 after its victory.

Against the Express, Nazareth's hitting percentage steadily improved with each set. The Golden Flyers hit .458 (14-3-24) in taking the first set, .577 (16-1-26) in the second and .625 (11-1-16) to take the third. Zachary Gillard totaled 11 kills without an error on 13 swings for a percentage of .846. Kane Wittorff was a perfect 6-for-6 and Sean Dillon was 5-for-7 (.714). Sam Bittker added nine kills on 17 attempts for a .529 success rate. Freshman Garrett Rodi had seven kills in 13 attempts for a .385 percentage.

Jake Kemp totaled 31 assists and Ethan Ross was in on eight blocks.

Against Cal Lutheran, Gillard had a team-high nine kills while Wittorff and sophomore Joe Crosby each added five kills. Kemp had four kills on four attempts and finished with a team-high 27 assists.

Defensively, Luis Vazquez had a match-high 10 digs. Sophomore Sean Dillon and Wittorff each had an assisted block.

The Golden Flyers are in action again on Saturday when they play Johnson & Wales at 1 p.m. and Lasell at 3 p.m.