AMHERST, N.Y. -- Nazareth traveled to Division II Daemen for a non-conference men's volleyball match on Wednesday evening. Despite a valiant effort, the Golden Flyers fell to the Wildcats in four sets by the scores of 25-19, 25-21, 18-25, 25-18. Sophomore Owen Wickens amassed a career-high 21 kills with only one hitting error to lead Nazareth.

With the loss, the Golden Flyers drop to 16-5 overall. With the victory, Daemen improved to 8-2 overall.

In the opening set, Nazarerth recorded three consecutive kills to turn an 8-7 deficit into a 10-8 lead thanks to kills by junior Colin Donahue, graduate student Antonio Sargent, and freshman Josh Weaver. Weaver's kill, which capped the run, was drilled down the right side of the court. The Wildcats responded with a 12-4 scoring run to take a 20-14 lead following a Golden Flyers' hitting error. Nazareth closed to within four points, 22-18, before Daemen won the set on a net violation.

In the second set, the Wildcats claimed an early 6-2 lead following strong defensive and offensive play. The run started following a block, then a tip for a kill, then a kill following a touch at the net. The Golden Flyers closed to within one point, 8-7, after an assisted block by Donahue and Wickens at the left side of the net. The Nazareth run was answered by a decisive 7-2 scoring run by Daemen that provided the Wildcats with a comfortable 15-9 lead. The Golden Flyers were able to close to within three points, 23-20, after a cross-court kill by Wickens, an ace by Wickens, then a kill by Sargent, but Nazareth was not able to threaten the Wildcats' lead further.

Nazareth took an early lead, 8-7, in the third set following a kill by Wickens that he hit along the near sideline. Sophomore Jackson Camblin entered the game and recorded an ace after his serve clipped the top of the net and fell in front of the Daemen back line. Wickens continued to impose his will on the Wildcats with a solo block to give the Golden Flyers an 11-9 lead, then his third ace of the evening gave Nazareth a 14-10 lead. Wickens' ensuing serve could not be controlled by Daemen and was passed over the net, which freshman Max Stuver pounded into the Wildcats' side of the court. The Golden Flyers stretched their lead to 18-11 following a kill from the back row that Wickens placed into the corner of the Daemen court. The kill gave Wickens a .700 hitting percentage at the time. Nazareth closed out the set with back-to-back points on a kill from Wickens and an assisted block by Wickens and Stuver.

The Wildcats opened the fourth set with strong serving as aces gave them early leads of 5-3 then 9-6. The Golden Flyers rallied to tie the set at 11 points apiece following a pair of kills from Sargent that were sandwiched between kills from Weaver. Trailing 14-12, Nazareth was whistled for a net violation that extended the Daemen lead to 15-12 instead of cutting the Golden Flyers' deficit to one point. The Wildcats stretched their lead to 22-17 following a kill before going on to win the match on a service ace.

In addition to the kills from Wickens, Sargent finished with 13 kills while Weaver and Donahue recorded five kills and three kills, respectively. Junior Trent Caviness tallied 38 assists to direct most of Nazareth's offense. Defensively, Caviness had a team-high seven digs, followed by Wickens with five digs. At the net, Stuver was credited with two solo blocks and an assisted block, and Wickens had a solo block and a pair of assisted blocks.

The Golden Flyers are in action again on March 5th when Nazareth hosts second-ranked Vassar in a UVC match at 1 p.m.