ROCHESTER, NY – Three players hit over .300 (Tessa Grover, Ruth Jackson, and Zipporah Sparkman) as top-seeded Nazareth rolled past No. 4 Houghton in three sets, 25-11, 25-20, 25-17 in the Empire 8 Semifinals. Nazareth will host second-seeded St. John Fisher at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Empire 8 Championship game. During the regular season, Nazareth downed the Cardinals 3-1, (25-23, 25-15, 16-25, 25-23).
 
Nazareth returns to the Empire 8 Championship game for the first time since 2021 and will be making its 16^thEmpire 8 title game appearance (eight titles). The Golden Flyers appeared in five-straight Empire 8 title games from 2017-2021, with their last championship coming in 2018, a five-set win over Stevens.
 
After the Highlanders took the Golden Flyers to five sets during the regular season, Nazareth brought the energy in the semifinal matchup. The Golden Flyers kept up their strong hitting for the tournament. After hitting .341 against Sage in the quarterfinals, Nazareth came back to hit .235 in the semifinals.
 
Nazareth gained momentum in the first set by using a 9-4 run to push its lead to 16-9. 
 
Jenna Mattison had three service aces, while Tessa Grover had two and added four kills on seven attempts. For the match, Grover hit .300 with eight kills, to go along with 13 assists.
 
In the second set, Nazareth trailed 8-4 before stringing together six-straight, capped by a Leah Fusilli kill to take a 10-8 lead. Fusilli powered down six kills with 10 digs and four service aces.
 
Later in the set, the score was tied at 18 Naz pulled away with seven of the last nine points.
 
Alana Lucey had a huge block in the third to make it 17-10 and Naz never looked back. Lucey had two block assists and two solo blocks.
 
Jackson hit .333 with four kills, while Sparkman had four kills on a .375 attack percentage. Sparkman also had five block assists.
 
Ella Kules tied a team-high with 13 assists.