ROCHESTER, NY – Third-seeded Nazareth dropped the final two sets as the sixth-ranked Utica Pioneers pulled off a five set upset in the Empire 8 Championship Quarterfinals, 11-25, 25-20, 19-25, 25-19, 15-13 on Tuesday night at Kidera Gymnasium. The Golden Flyers finish the season 10-19 overall, while Utica moves to 17-11. The Pioneers will square off against second seeded Hartwick in the Empire 8 semifinals on Friday.
Nazareth got off to a raging start, breaking open a 12-2 advantage in the first set behind nine-straight points. Senior
Kaylee Kelly had three service aces during the run and had four in the set. In all, the third seed notched six service aces in the opening set and hit .409 compared to a negative percentage (-.105) for Utica.
It was a different story in the second set as Nazareth never led with the Pioneers hitting .286 with 12 kills on 28 attempts (four errors).
Despite having a difficult hitting set in the third (.125) and trailing by as many as five points early, the Golden Flyers were able to take the third. Nazareth seized control following a long rally that was capped by a
Ruth Jackson attack in the middle. That was followed up by a big kill from Kelly to make it 15-13. The Golden Flyers did not let the Pioneers within three points the rest of the way.
With the Pioneers looking to keep their playoff hopes alive, Jackson delivered two consecutive kills to push the Golden Flyers near the brink at 18-14. Nazareth would go cold, however, allowing Utica to score 10 consecutive points and eventually close out the set.
It was a back-and-forth fifth set with no team holding more than a two point lead the entire set. Nazareth evened the scored a 13 apiece before Utica rattled off two-straight points to end the match.
Kelly finished with 15 kills and a game-high six service aces. A pair of Golden Flyers had 11 kills, including
Tessa Grover and
Eva Lyko. Lyko hit .333 on the day and Grover .304. Grover also added a game-high 33 assists and seven blocks.
Jackson hit a solid .389 with 10 kills, to go along with four blocks.
Zoe Tylipakis had five service aces and six kills.
