Updated stats
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Nazareth defeated SUNY Canton in its first match on Saturday at the Rochester Invitational before falling to Cortland in five sets. The tournament was hosted by the University of Rochester and RIT. The Golden Flyers swept Canton at the University of Rochester Palestra by the scores of 25-18, 25-11, 25-13. Seniors Melissa Newcomb, who was named to the all-tournament team, and Delaney Martin as well as freshman Paiton Basinski combined for 31 of Nazareth's 46 kills against the Kangaroos. The scores of the five-set match against Cortland were (25-12, 21-25, 25-16, 20-25, 15-7).

Following their action on Saturday, the Golden Flyers stand at 3-4 overall while Canton fell to 0-8 overall after the loss. Cortland improved to 5-3 overall after defeating Nazareth.

Against Canton, sophomore Olivia Quick recorded a match-high 21 assists while teammate Jessica Barry finished with 20 assists as the two worked together to lead Nazareth's attack. In addition to the kills from Basinski, Newcomb, and Martin, senior Danielle Synowski tallied four kills and sophomore Ally Criswell had three kills. The Golden Flyers were efficient with their attack connecting on hitting percentages of .281 (15 kills, 6 errors, 32 attempts), .316 (14 kills, 2 errors, 38 attempts, and an incredible .536 (17 kills, 2 errors, 28 attempts) to close the match.

Defensively, Nazareth stymied the Kangaroos by forcing 15 hitting errors and allowing only 11 kills. Canton had negative hitting percentages in two out of the three sets. Sophomore McKenzie Hart recorded a team-high 14 digs for Nazareth. At the net, Barry and Newcomb each had a solo block and assisted block.

The Golden Flyers fell to Cortland after winning the second and fourth sets. Newcomb finished with 15 kills to lead Nazareth, followed by Basinski with 13 kills, and Martin with 10 kills. Barry amassed 41 assists as the Golden Flyers' primary setter. As the set scores suggest, Nazareth had its best hitting percentages in the second and fourth sets when they talled 16 and 19 kills, respectively. Nazareth recorded a hitting percentage of .184 in the second set and a .255 percentage in the fourth set.

At the net, freshman Janay Douglas was a force with a pair of solo blocks and an assisted block. Cortland had a .483 hitting percentage in the opening set following 16 kills and only two errors. Nazareth adjusted and held the Red Dragons to hitting percentages of .000, .200, .167, and .242 through the remainder of the match.

In the deciding set, Nazareth trimmed its deficit to 5-4 before the Red Dragons scored three straight points to pull away. After trading points, Cortland sealed the match with a 5-1 scoring run.

The Golden Flyers are in action again Friday, September 13th when Nazareth hosts D'Youville in a non-conference match at 7 p.m.