ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Kaylee Kelly produced a match-best 20 kills and Tessa Grover combined 42 with with nine kills, eight digs and three blocks as Nazareth defeated visiting Utica in a four-set women's volleyball match Friday at the Kidera Gymnasium. Scores were 26-24, 25-18, 20-25, 25-20.

The victory clinched for Nazareth the No. 3 seed in next month's Empire 8 Conference Tournament. The Golden Flyers are 12-9 overall and 5-2 in the Empire 8. St. John Fisher locked up the top seed and Hartwick clinched the second seed, meaning that Hartwick and Nazareth will square off in the semifinals of the Empire 8 Tournament on Nov. 5 at Fisher. Utica was eliminated from post-season contention as the Pioneers dropped to 7-15 overall and 2-5 in the E8.

Nazareth trailed for much of the first set and used a pair of service aces by freshman Michaela Colacino to secure the final two points to close out the set. Nazareth was crisper in the second set with Kelly generating seven of her kills and Olivia Quick producing three more.

After dropping the third set, Nazareth came back to close out the match with 16 kills in the fourth set for a .324 hitting percentage. Grover had four of her kills, with Kelly, Quick, Eva Lyko and freshman Ruth Jackson adding three each.

Lyko finished with 11 kills and Quick added nine. Zoe Tylipakis served as the libero and had a career-best 17 digs.

Nazareth closes out its Empire 8 Conference schedule with a match Saturday at Houghton at 1 p.m.