HOUGHTON, N.Y. -- Visiting Nazareth closed out its Empire 8 Conference schedule for women's volleyball Saturday with a three-set sweep at Houghton. The Golden Flyers won by convincing scores of 25-12, 25-18, 25-17.

Nazareth already has clinched the third seed for next month's Empire 8 Conference Tournament. On Saturday the Golden Flyers improved to 13-9 overall and 8-2 in the E8. Houghton is 7-10 overall and 3-5 in the E8.

As the third seed, Nazareth will play second-seeded Hartwick in the E8 semifinals on Friday, Nov. 5 with top-seeded St. John Fisher serving as the host. The championship match is Saturday Nov. 6.

Nazareth had little difficulty conquering Houghton Saturday as Kaylee Kelly produced nine kills and Eva Lyko had eight kills and 11 digs. Tessa Grover added six kills and 27 assists and Ruth Jackson had five kills and four blocks. Zoe Tylipakis had 10 digs and four service aces.

Nazareth had a team hitting percentage of .273 (37-13-88), including a pristine .481 percentage (14-1-27) in the opening set. That included three kills apiece for Lyko, Jackson and Grover as well as two aces for Tylipakis.

Nazareth was able to overcome eight hitting errors in the second set as Kelly and Lyko each had four kills. Kelly added four more kills in a one-sided third set that also featured three more kills for Lyko and two for freshman Alexandra Eder.

Nazareth will play four more non-conference matches this week, before the start of the E8 Tournament. Nazareth will visit Rochester Tuesday at 6 p.m. and then will host three matches in the New York Regional Challenge. Nazareth hosts RIT Friday at 6 p.m., then Fredonia and Allegheny Saturday at 1 and 5 p.m. respectively.