ROCHESTER, NY – Senior Melissa Newcomb hammered 17 kills and finished with a .517 attack percentage to lead the No. 3 seed Nazareth College volleyball team to a 3-1 victory over No. 2 seed Houghton Friday night to advance the Golden Flyers to a third consecutive Empire 8 Tournament final.

Nazareth (13-17) won the first two sets, 25-16 and 25-20 before Houghton (20-5) rebounded to take the third set 25-22. The Golden Flyers took an early lead and sealed the match and the trip to the championship match with a 25-18 win in the fourth set.

Nazareth will face top-seeded St. John Fisher at 2 p.m. Saturday for the tournament title and automatic NCAA Division III Tournament bid at Napier Gym at St. John Fisher.

Nazareth is the defending E8 Tournament champions and finished runner-up in 2017.

Against Houghton, Nazareth took advantage of a negative attack percentage for the Highlanders in each set as the Golden Flyers raced to a 2-0 lead in the match.

Newcomb had 17 kills and just two attack errors in 29 attempts for an impressive .517 percentage to lead the Nazareth offense. Freshman Kaylee Kelly added 12 kills, 14 digs and three service aces while senior Danielle Synowski chipped in 10 kills and 10 digs for her ninth double-double of the season.

Junior Jessica Barry handed out 43 assists and had four aces while fellow junior Julia Cavanaugh had a career-high seven blocks and sophomore Olivia Quick registered 11 digs.

The Golden Flyers improved to 20-9 in E8 Tournament play and are a perfect 3-0 against St. John Fisher in tournament play since E8 play began in 2002.