ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- In a battle of nationally ranked teams Saturday, ninth-ranked Nazareth dropped its United Volleyball Conference opener to 10th-ranked New York University as the visitors used some efficient outside hitting to outlast the Golden Flyers in four competitive sets. NYU won by scores of 25-23, 20-25, 25-20, 25-23.

NYU, which visits Elmira Sunday, improved to 8-3 overall and 1-0 in the UVC. Nazareth dropped its second straight match after opening the 2023 season with 13 straight wins. The Golden Flyers are 13-2 overall and travel to Elmira Tuesday for a non-conference match.

Three Nazareth players amassed double digit kill totals, led by Owen Wickens with 18. Max Stuver added 14 to go with five assists and six digs and Alex Bertino added 11.

In a back-and-forth opening set, Nazareth led 14-11 before NYU rallied. A late kill by Stuver put the Golden Flyers up 23-22, but NYU got three straight kills by Luke Boyer, who finished with a match-high 20 kills, to take the early lead.

Nazareth had 16 kills in the second set, including seven by Wickens, to even the match, but the Violets regained control in the third set thanks to six more kills from Boyer and six from Gautham Dasari.

In the fourth set, Nazareth trailed 16-9 following another kill by Boyer, who delivered five more in the decisive set. Nazareth rallied to tie the set at 20 on a combined block by Wickens and Colin Donahue and again at 22 on a service ace by Trent Caviness. Two more kills by Boyer put the Violets head 24-22, before Stuver countered with a kill for Nazareth. The match ended with Boyer being credited with his 20th kill following a blocking error on the Golden Flyers.

Caviness finished with 47 assists and a pair of aces for the Golden Flyers and Seth Terzo had seven digs. Nazareth posted a .297 hitting percentage overall (53-18-118), but that proved inferior to NYU's .383 (57-16-107). That included 15 kills from Dasari and nine from Buddy Cohen. NYU's setter, Ryan Li, amassed 51 assists.