D'Youville match | Daemen box | Updated stats
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Nazareth rallied twice Friday to win a pair of men's non-conference volleyball matches hosted by D'Youville. The Golden Flyers lost the first set against the host Spartans before rallying for a 3-1 win by scores of 19-25, 25-12, 27-25, 25-17.. Nazareth then dropped the first two sets against Daemen, but ended up winning in five sets. Scores were 27-29, 17-25, 25-20, 25-17, 16-14.

Nazareth was able to extend its winning streak to four matches to improve to 14-10 overall. The Golden Flyers close their regular-season schedule next weekend at New Paltz in a decisive United Volleyball Conference match.

Against D'Youville, the Golden Flyers used a solid .423 hitting percentage (57-16-97) to dominate the Spartans after a lackluster opening set. Zachary Gillard totaled a match-best 15 kills and senior setter Tyler Farnung amassed 42 assists and four aces to control the pace. Junior Joe Crosby had a career-best 13 kills to go with four blocks and sophomore Antonio Sargent had 11 kills.
 
Nazareth hit .600 (11-2-15) in taking the second set in decisive fashion. Freshman Jordan Hildreth had three kills and Crosby, Gillard, Sargent and Ethan Ross had two each.

In the third set, Gillard had five kills and Crosby and Sargent four each. In a close set, Nazareth nearly let it slip away after squandering a 24-21 lead. D'Youville tied the score, but Nazareth prevailed thanks to a D'Youville service error and a set-clinching kill by Crosby, who added five more kills in the fourth set.

Against Daemen, Gillard produced 19 more kills and eight digs, Hildreth had 13 and Ross 10. Farnung had a career-high 53 assists.

Nazareth was able to generate momentum after falling in the first two sets. Nazareth trailed 14-13 in the fifth set, but recovered thanks to kills by Ross and Gillard and a match-point block by Ross and Crosby.

Gillard had five kills in the second set and Hildreth had four. Junior Sean Dillon helped Nazareth take the fourth set by knocking down four of his seven kills.