POUGHKEEPSIE, NY - On Friday evening, men's volleyball was defeated by #7 Vassar in three sets (25-15, 25-23, 25-19). Max Stuver and AJ Burda led the game in assists with 12 each.

With the loss, Nazareth's record drops to 10-8 overall and 1-1 in the conference while Vassar improves to 13-1 overall and 2-0 in the UVC.

In the first set, Vassar commanded the lead from the get-go. At a score of 12-9 in favor of the Brewers, Vassar went on a 4-0 run to go up 16-9, a deficit that the Golden Flyers could not quite come back from. Two more three-point runs gave the Brewers the set at a score of 25-15.

The second set was a much tighter battle. Down one point at a score of 6-6, Vassar consecutively scored six points to go up 11-6. Later in the set, Nazareth had cut the Brewers' lead down to three at 20-17, and then connected four points in a row to go up 21-20 late in the set. Vassar answered with a run of its own to go up 23-21. The two teams then traded points for the remainder of the set, Vassar taking it 25-23. 

The third set started very close, a tie being formed at 10-10. In the remainder of the set, the Brewers were just able to string together more runs than the Golden Flyers could, and Vassar took the third and final set at a score of 25-19.

Stuver and Burda led the team and the game in assists with 12 each. Stuver also led the Golden Flyers' defensive efforts with 11 digs, while adding one block. Andrew Bodensteiner led the team in kills and aces with seven and two while also throwing down a block. Owen Wickens was on the board with four kills, one ace and one assist. Alex Bertino and Josh Weaver also had four kills while Bertino also added six digs. Ryan Murphy led the team in blocks with two, while freshman Bodey Groff had four digs.

The Golden Flyers will be back in action on Saturday, March 1 on the road at MIT for a 1 p.m. conference showdown.