ROCHESTER, NY – The Nazareth women's volleyball team locked up the No. 1 Seed for the Empire 8 Championships with a thrilling five set win over Houghton on Tuesday night, 25-11, 22-25, 25-14, 23-25, 15-11.  With the win, Nazareth extends its win streak to 12 games, the most in a row since 2013, when the Golden Flyers won 11 straight. 
 
Nazareth closes out conference play on Friday night at Alfred. The Golden Flyers will look to go undefeated in conference play for the first time since 2002, when the purple and gold went 7-0, won the Empire 8 Championship, and advanced to the Elite 8 of the NCAA Tournament.
 
Nazareth took control of the first set when it won seven-straight points to open up a 10-3 advantage following a kill from Zoe Tylipakis. She had two kills in the set. She finished the match with nine kills, 17 digs, and three service aces.
 
Zipporah Sparkman had three blocks in the set, while Alana Lucey had two.
 
The second set featured five ties, but Houghton was able to distance from a 20-20 tie by scoring five of the last seven points to take the set.
 
In the third, Nazareth was lights out with its attacks, putting down 15 kills on 32 attempts with just two errors for a .406 attack percentage.
 
The fourth set was tight throughout with 12 lead changes. Houghton, however, had its strongest hitting set, putting down 18 kills on 40 attempts with just two errors (.375) to take the set 25-23.
 
Trailing 6-3 in the fifth, Nazareth scored four-straight to go ahead 7-6, with kills from Ruth Jackson, Leah Fusilli, and back-to-back service aces from Tylipakis. A service error ended the match for Nazareth.
 
Fusilli put down a team-high 12 kills to go along with 15 digs. Jenna Mattison had 22 dig and three service aces. 
 
Tessa Grover had nine kills, 20 assists, and 14 digs.  Ella Kules dished out 19 assists and added 10 digs.