ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Nazareth won two more men's volleyball matches Saturday, including a thrilling four-set triumph over Juniata in an evening showcase. Scores were 25-22, 20-25, 25-17, 25-22. The vistory, coupled with a three-set sweep of Medaille on Saturday morning enabled the Golden Flyers to start the 2022 season at 4-0.
Juniata, ranked 12th nationally, in the AVCA's pre-season poll, dropped to 1-1. The Eagles also defeated Hilbert on Saturday.
Antonio Sargent had 12 kills against Juniata and
Nate Allen added 10.
Owen Wickens produced nine kills, 35 assists and seven service aces.
Overall, Nazareth hit a respectable ,234 (
49-23-111) to .217 (38-18-92) for Juniata. The Golden Flyers also served well with 12 aces to just one for the Eagles.
Allen had four kills in the opening set and Sargent had three and Wickens had four of his aces as the Golden Flyers took the early lead. After Nazareth dropped the second set, Sargent delivered four more kills in the third set. In the fourth set, Nazareth had a 19-15 lead, before Juniata rallied to square the set at 19, 20, 21 and 22. Nazareth sealed the win with a kill by Colin Danahue, a Junata attack error and finally a combined block from Allen and
Max Stuver.
Nazareth's balanced attack also featured six kills each from Donahue,
Andrew Bodensteiner and
Josh Weaver.
Alex Bertino added two aces.
Seth Terzo had 11 digs.
Nazareth opened its action on Saturday by defeating visiting Medaille in three sets. The scores were 25-12, 25-14, 25-10. The Golden Flyers were led by Wickens, who tallied eights kills with no errors. He also had five aces.
Against Medaille, the Golden Flyers amassed a .458 hitting percentage (43-13-73) over the course of the match to dominate the Mavericks. Allen tallied a match-high nine kills, followed by Wickens with eight kills, and Sargent with seven kills. Nazareth had 19 combined kills from seven additional players to overwhelm Medaille with a balanced attack. In addition to his kills, Wickens recorded a match-high 29 assists as the Golden Flyers' primary setter.
Defensively, Nazareth frustrated the Mavericks by holding them to a -.078 hitting percentage (9-13-51) throughout the match. Terzo had a match-high eight digs. Wickens, Sargent, Donahue, and Stuver thwarted Medaille at the net as each player tallied multiple blocks.
Nazareth plays again Friday at the SUNY Poly Tournament with matches against Lasell and Wentworth.
