ROCHESTER, NY – The Nazareth men's volleyball team opened the season with a pair of sweeps on Saturday at Kidera Gymnasium, beginning with Medaille 25-9, 25-13, 25-17 and then downing Thiel, 25-21, 25-16, 25-14.
The Golden Flyers are 2-0 on the season, while Thiel is 1-1 and Medaille sits at 0-2.
Nazareth returns to action on Friday at 2 p.m. when it will travel to SUNY Poly for a 2 p.m. contest.
3-0 vs Medaille, 25-9, 25-13, 25-17
The Golden Flyers started off the opening set with a vengeance, notching eight service aces, including three from
Owen Wickens. His third service ace put him at 100 for his career. Nazareth cruised 25-9 in the set.
After taking the second set 25-13, Nazareth had its best hitting set at .650 with 15 kills on 20 attempts with just two errors. Medaille kept it close, trailing 16-15, before the Golden Flyers rattled off nine of the next 11 points to take the sweep.
Wickens went for seven kills, seven service aces, six digs, and two assists.
Trent Caviness led the way with 12 assists while also collecting three service aces and eight digs.
Max Stuver chipped in 11 assists and four kills.
Nazareth hit .333 for the match with 30 total kills on 57 attempts with 11 errors.
3-0 vs Thiel, 25-21, 25-16, 25-14
Thiel scored the first point before Nazareth strung together eight-straight points behind the serve of Caviness to take an 8-1 advantage. He had four service aces during the run and five for the set. The senior ended the game with six kills (.600) and a team-leading 16 assists.
The Golden Flyers led by as many as 10 points at 16-6, before the Tomcats drew to within 21-20. Nazareth steadied the ship and finished the set with back-to-back kills from Wickens to win 25-21. He finished with a team-high six kills in the set.
The Golden Flyers got another quick start in the second set, jumping out to a 6-0 advantage and finishing the set hitting .409 (13 kills, 22 attempts, 2 errors).
Wickens polished off 11 kills (.273), 12 assists, six service aces and six digs in the win.
Josh Weaver and
Max Stuver each tallied three kills on four attempts.
