Women's Volleyball | 8/31/2018 7:16:00 PM

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Tournament site | Oneonta box | Stockton box
CORTLAND, N.Y. -- Nazareth opened its women's volleyball season in impressive fashion Friday as the Golden Flyers won a pair of four-set matches at SUNY Cortland's Red Dragon Invitational.

Senior middle blocker Kelsey Milligan knocked down 11 kills in four sets against Oneonta as Nazareth won by scores of 25-16, 25-13, 23-25, 25-10. Then against Stockton, junior middle blocker Melissa Newcomb had 15 kills and seven blocks as the Golden Flyers won by scores of 25-17, 20-25, 25-19, 25-17.

The Golden Flyers play two more matches Saturday -- against Rowan at 12:30 p.m. and against Cortland at 3.

Milligan's match-best 11 kills against Oneonta came on 19 attempts with just one hitting error. Juniors Delaney Martin and Melissa Newcomb each added seven kills while senior Madison Joseph combined six kills with nine digs. Sophomore setter Jessica Barry totaled 29 assists and sophomore libero Savannah Bothner had 18 digs.

Newcomb and Milligan successfully controlled the middle against Stockton by combining for 26 kills. Newcomb's 15 kills came on 30 attempts with one error and Milligan's 11 kills came on 22 attempts with three errors. The Golden Flyers also displayed offensive balance on the outside with Joseph and senior Carmen Sapp each producing eight kills and Martin delivered six more.

Joseph also contributed three service aces as did Bothner, who added 28 digs. Barry had 44 assists and six digs.

The four-set triumph snapped a four-match losing streak against the Ospreys, whom the Golden Flyers have played at the Cortland Tournament for the past five seasons. Nazareth is now 9-11 overall against Oneonta. The teams split two matches last year.