HOUGHTON, NY – Four players had at least eight digs and junior Tessa Grover nearly had another triple-double as the Nazareth University Women's Volleyball team swept an Empire 8 match from Houghton to clinch one of the six spots in the upcoming Empire 8 Tournament.
Nazareth (8-13 overall, 4-2 Empire 8) won by set scores of 25-13, 25-22 and 25-23 for the 3-0 victory over Houghton (5-13, 1-5 Empire 8).
The victory moved Nazareth among the teams in the standings with at least three wins with two matches remaining on a majority of the team schedules. The Golden Flyers finish the regular season Empire 8 schedule at home against Keuka (Friday) and Utica (Saturday).
Against Houghton, Nazareth dominated the first set with 15 kills and an attack percentage of .545 as the Golden Flyers won a 25-13 opening set.
In the second set, Houghton jumped out to an early lead with a 13-9 advantage but Nazareth battled back with five straight points to take a 14-13 lead. The score remained close until a kill by junior Ruth Jackson and a Houghton attack error gave the Golden Flyers a 23-20 lead. Grover capped the win with a kill for the 25-22 win.
In the third set, the Highlanders took another early lead and held a seven-point edge at 14-7. Nazareth took advantage of seven straight errors by Houghton to tie the score and a kill by sophomore Leah Fusilli gave Nazareth a 15-14 lead.
Another Jackson kill later gave the Golden Flyers a 23-20 lead before Houghton rallied for three of the next four points to trim the lead but a service error for Houghton ended the match.
Sophomore Jenna Mattison led Nazareth with 12 digs while Fusilli and junior Ella Kules each had nine digs and Grover chipped in eight. Grover finished with 12 kills on a .407 attack percentage with 10 assists, eight digs, two aces and four blocks.
Fusilli added five kills and three aces while Kules led the team with 11 assists.
Nazareth will play at Brockport Tuesday before wrapping up the Empire 8 schedule with the Friday (vs. Keuka) and Saturday (vs. Utica) matches.
