Match 1 l Match 2
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Nazareth defeated visiting Sage in three sets in the opening match of Sunday's contests then knocked off the Gators in four sets in the second match. The scores of the first match, which was an Empire 8 Conference match, were 25-9, 25-14, 25-18. The scores for the second match, which was not a conference match, were 22-25, 25-11, 25-15, 25-13.

Following the victories, Nazareth improves to 3-2 in Empire 8 matches and 4-2 overall. After the loss, the Gators drop to 0-6 in conference matches and 0-9 overall.

The Golden Flyers controlled the opening match with hitting percentages of .360, .226, and .343 while forcing the Gators into hitting percentages of -.130, -.115, and -.059.

Junior McKenzie Hart and sophomore Kaylee Kelly had 11 kills and 10 kills, respectively, to lead the Golden Flyers. Senior Julia Cavanaugh added six kills, junior Olivia Quick had five kills, sophomore Eva Lyko had four kills, and freshman Kelly Taylor had three kills for Nazareth's balanced attack. Taylor assisted on 22 of the Golden Flyers' kills while Quick had 11 assists.

Defensively, Nazareth dominated Sage at the net with one solo block and eight assisted blocks. Lyko had the solo block while Cavanaugh amassed four assisted blocks. Taylor had a pair of assisted blocks. Additionally, Quick and Hart each had one assisted block. Hart and sophomore Kelsey Ludwig amassed 12 digs apiece to thwart the Gators' attacks. For the course of the match, the Gators recorded only 14 kills, and recorded 22 hitting errors.

In addition to her 11 kills and 12 blocks, Quick made an impact on her serves, too. She finished the match with three aces.

Sage was led by Emma Parkington, who had five kills. Francesca Gigliotti finished with eight assists, and Elaina Moisidis tallied a match-high 14 digs.

In the second match, the Gators held off the Golden Flyers' rally attempt in the opening set, 25-22. Nazareth rebounded to rout Sage in the next three sets. After having 10 kills and 13 hitting errors in the first set, the Golden Flyers tallied 43 kills and 10 total hitting errors in the following three sets combined.

Cavanaugh and Kelly amassed 13 kills apiece to lead the Nazareth attack. Quick and Hart each had eight kills, and Lyko finished with five kills. Quick and Taylor each served as the Golden Flyers' priamary setter and combined for 46 assists to direct the Nazareth attack.

Similar to the first match against Sage, the Golden Flyers forced the Gators into more hitting errors than kills. Sage had 24 errors and 21 kills over the four-set match. Hart led Nazareth's defense with a team-high 21 digs, followed by Ludwig, who had 14 digs. Cavanaugh continued to make an impact at the net as she had three assisted blocks. Kelly added a pair of assisted blocks, too.

Parkington had a team-high seven kills in the second set for Sage. Gigliotti had 12 assists, and Moisidis amassed a match-high 29 digs.

The Golden Flyers close their regular season on Monday with a conference match at Utica at 7 p.m. Nazareth begins play in the Empire 8 Tournament on Tuesday.