Box Score ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Nazareth men's volleyball defeated Mount Union in its home opener on Friday night as coach Cal Wickens was honored for his dedication to Nazareth volleyball over 41 seasons. Owen Wickens and Max Stuver had double-doubles in the victory, Wickens with 22 kills and 19 digs, and Stuver with 10 assists and 10 digs.

Nazareth's record now stands even at 5-5, while Mount Union drops to 7-4 overall.

The game overall was a nail-biter, but especially so in the first and third sets. In the first set, the Raiders jumped out to an early lead at 7-3 and continued to build on that lead until 15-10. At that point, Nazareth went on a 6-0 run to take its first lead since the first point of the game. Mount Union answered Nazareth's run with a five-point run of their own to hold a 20-16 lead over the Golden Flyers. Two kills and an ace from Wickens as well as a Mount Union error allowed Nazareth to tie the game at 20.

The two teams then went back and forth trading points until the game was tied at 24. A kill from AJ Burda and an ace from Ryan Murphy gave Nazareth the 26-24 victory in the first.

The second set started very even, neither team holding a lead of over two points until Nazareth went on a three-point run when they were up by one to take a 14-10 lead over the Raiders. Though Mount Union tried to crawl its way back from the deficit, Nazareth continued to hold steady and eventually took the set 25-21.

In the third set, it was Nazareth who came out hot, jumping to a mid-set lead of 13-7. However, Mount Union was able to come back and tie the game up at 15. The third set then proved to be the biggest battle, holding 10 tie scores and four lead changes. When Nazareth was up at the end of the set 22-21, Mount Union went on a four-point run to close the set 25-22.

In the final set the Raiders again came out strong, starting with a 7-2 lead over the Golden Flyers. Nazareth cut that lead down to one a few times, but didn't tie up the set until 20-20. The teams traded the next four points to hold another tie at 22. Three back-to-back kills from Wickens, Max Stuver, and Burda finished the fourth set at a score of 25-22, giving the Golden Flyers the 3-1 win.

WIckens led the Golden Flyers in kills with 22, while teammate Alex Bertino had 15, and Jake O'Sullivan added six. Murphy led the team in blocks with four, while Stuver and O'Sullivan tallied three and two respectively. Burda led the team in assists with 44, while Stuver dished out 10. Wickens also led in digs with 19, while Stuver added 10, and Groff had seven.

The Golden Flyers will be back in action on February 8 for an 11 a.m. game against Marymount and a 3 p.m. game against Manhattanville.