UTICA, NY – The Nazareth men's volleyball team improved to 4-0 on the season on Friday, downing SUNY Poly in straight sets, 25-21, 25-21, 25-16, before hanging on for a five-set win over Wentworth in the second match of the day, 25-23, 25-20, 15-25, 23-24, 15-9.
Owen Wickens combined for 41 kills in the two matches, including a career-high 24 in the win over Wentworth.
Nazareth returns to the court for two matches on Saturday, squaring off against Nichols at 1 p.m. and SUNY Potsdam at 5 p.m.
3-0 win vs SUNY Poly, 25-21, 25-21, 25-16
In a closely contested first set, Nazareth was able to pull away with the score tied at 20 apiece. Wickens gave the Golden Flyers the lead for good at 21-20 and followed up that point with another kill, his fifth of the set. He closed out the set with a service ace.
The Golden Flyers hit .312 in the second set with 15 kills on 32 attempts with five errors.
Alex Bertino had four of his nine kills in the set, finishing with a .818 hitting percentage.
Nazareth broke open a 13-12 lead in the third set, scoring six of the next seven points to seize control.
Wickens hit .448 for the match with a game-high 17 kills and 10 digs.
Trent Caviness dished out 22 assists and collected nine digs.
Seth Terzo pitched in six assists and seven digs.
Win 3-2, 25-23, 25-20, 15-25, 23-24, 15-9
It remained close the entire first set with the score tied at 23 apiece, before Wickens was able to notch the final two kills to close out the set, 25-23. He recored his career-high for kills with 24 on a .390 attack percentage, while also adding seven digs.
Nazareth had command in the second set by hitting its best of the entire day (.444), with 11 kills on 18 attempts with three errors.
After slipping up in sets three and four, Nazareth regained its bearings in the final set. The Golden Flyers put together two instances of recording four-straight points to help secure the victory to make the score 6-3 and later 12-6, hitting .267 in the set.
Nate Allen delivered for the Golden Flyers with 12 kills on 28 attempts, while Caviness added a game-high 38 assists. Terzo led the way with 11 digs.
