MARCY, NY – The 2025 season for the 17
th-ranked men's volleyball squad got underway on Saturday at the Suny Poly Invitational as the Golden Flyers fell in four sets to Lasell before sweeping Westminster.
3-1 loss to Lasell (25-16, 26-24, 17-25, 25-16)
Nazareth played well in both the second and third sets, hitting .455 and .464, respectively but the Golden Flyers came up short 26-24 in the second to fall down 2-0.
Lasell hit .380 for the match with 45 kills on 92 attempts with 10 errors. Meanwhile, Nazareth hit .258 with 56 kills on 120 attempts with 25 errors.
Owen Wickens led the way with 15 kills and also had six digs.
Josh Weaver put down 12 kills on a .364 attack percentage, while
Andrew Bodensteiner dropped nine kills on 17 attempts (.471 hitting percentage).
AJ Burda dished out 40 assists and had a team-high nine digs.
Nazareth defeats Lasell 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-19)
Nazareth trailed 18-16 in the first before rattling off four-straight points on kills from
Alex Bertino,
Max Stuver, and Weaver, and a block from Stuver and
Jake O'Sullivan to take a 20-18 advantage. Westminster tied the score at 20 before Nazareth closed the set scoring five of the last six points.
In the second, Nazareth was down 19-18 before four-straight points to seize control, including a kill from Weaver and a service ace. He led Nazareth with nine kills on a .313 attack percentage.
Wickens had seven digs and seven kills. Stuver accounted for 18 assists.
Nazareth handled Westminster handily in the third.
The Golden Flyers will be back in action on Sunday, taking on Sage at 10 am and Buffalo State at 12 pm with both games taking place at SUNY Poly.
