HOUGHTON, NY – Seniors Melissa Newcomb and Delaney Martin combined for 31 kills for the Nazareth College women's volleyball team but the Golden Flyers surrendered an early lead and fell in a tight Empire 8 match, 3-1, at Houghton Saturday afternoon.
Nazareth (10-10 overall, 3-2 E8) scored a convincing 25-16 victory in the first set but Houghton (15-4, 3-1) rebounded to score a late 25-23 win in the second set to even the score and then posted a 25-22 win in the third before closing out the match with a 25-20 win in the fourth set.
In the opening set, Nazareth trailed 14-8 before a huge run as the Golden Flyers scored 14 of the next 15 points after calling a timeout and held a 22-15 lead at the end of the run. Sophomore McKenzie Hart served the first eight points of the run and Newcomb added four more points from the service line at the end of the run. Martin recorded an ace to push the score to 24-16 before an attack error by Houghton closed out the set.
In the second set, Nazareth had another good run as senior Danielle Synowski served 10 straight points to take the Golden Flyers from a 6-2 deficit to a 12-6 lead. The Highlanders battled back to tie the score at 16-16 and the teams traded points until two late kills by Houghton to close out the close second set.
Houghton took a late 22-18 lead in the third set. Kills by Martin and Newcomb followed by an ace for Newcomb closed the gap to 23-21 but the Highlanders used a pair of late kills to take the 2-1 lead in the match.
In the fourth set, Houghton jumped ahead 11-4 but Nazareth came back with a six-point run that featured three kills by Martin to tie the score at 18-18. Another Martin kill tied the score again at 19-19 before Houghton closed out the set with a pair of three-point runs down the stretch.
Newcomb finished with 16 kills, two aces and eight digs while Martin added 15 kills. Junior Jessica Barry had 37 assists, three aces and seven digs while Synowski chipped in four aces, five kills and five digs. Hart led the defense with nine digs while freshman Kelsey Ludwig added eight digs.
The Golden Flyers return to action next weekend at the Clarkson University Tournament and will face Geneseo Friday before taking on St. Lawrence and Clarkson Saturday.
