Owen Wickens led Nazareth with 25 kills in the win at New Paltz
3
Winner Nazareth Naz 19-8,3-3 UVC
1
SUNY New Paltz SUNYNP 16-12,1-5 UVC
Winner
Nazareth Naz
19-8,3-3 UVC
3
Final
1
SUNY New Paltz SUNYNP
16-12,1-5 UVC
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Nazareth Naz 27 20 25 25 (3)
SUNY New Paltz SUNYNP 25 25 14 23 (1)

Game Recap: Men's Volleyball |

Volleyball Eclipses New Paltz to Clinch Playoff Bid

NEW PALTZ, NY – Senior Owen Wickens had 25 kills including 11 in the first set to lead the Nazareth University Men's Volleyball team to a key United Volleyball Conference (UVC) win over New Paltz Friday night to clinch a spot in the UVC Tournament.

Nazareth (19-8 overall, 3-3 UVC) came from behind to win the first set 27-25 and New Paltz (16-12, 1-5 UVC) rallied for a 25-20 win in the second set to event the match. The Golden Flyers took an early lead in the third and cruised to a 25-14 win to regain the lead before finishing the match with a close 25-23 fourth set for the 3-1 overall victory.

In the first set, Nazareth trailed 24-21 but rallied for a 4-0 run to take a 25-24 edge. The Hawks tied the score at 25-25 but a pair of attack errors gave Nazareth the two points needed for the victory. Wickens had 11 kills and a .733 attack percentage in the opening set and the team had a strong .361 attack percentage.

In the second set, New Paltz scored the first eight points but Nazareth rallied to tie the score at 17-17. The score was 21-20 New Paltz late but the Hawks scored the final four points for the win to knot the match score at 1-1.

Nazareth jumped out to an early 14-7 lead in the third set and pushed the lead to double-digits at 23-13 later in the set. Junior Alex Bertino finished off the set with a kill and a service ace for the Golden Flyers.

Nazareth took an early lead again in the fourth set with an 11-5 advantage. The Golden Flyers had their biggest lead at 22-14 before New Paltz rallied for six consecutive points to narrow the gap to 22-20. A kill by Bertino stopped the rally and the teams traded points before a block by the Hawks trimmed the lead to a point at 23-22.

A service error and kill for New Platz made the score 24-23 and Wickens finished the match with his 25th kill of the day.

At 3-3 in conference play, Nazareth earns a playoff spot with one match left to play as the Golden Flyers move on to New York City Saturday to face NYU in the regular season finale.

Wickens finished with 25 kills and a .524 attack percentage with seven digs and a pair of aces.  Junior Josh Weaver had 12 kills and Bertino finished with 11. Junior AJ Burda had 47 assists and Bertino led Nazareth with eight digs.
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