ROCHESTER, NY – 18^th-ranked Nazareth scored six of the first seven points in the fifth set and downed 12^th-ranked St. John Fisher 25-21, 22-25, 25-19, 22-25, 15-11 on Friday night. Five Golden Flyers finished with double-digit kills in Andrew Bodensteiner (13), Owen Wickens and Josh Weaver each tallying 12, Ryan Murphy with 11, and Alex Bertino with 10. AJ Burda had a season-high 47 assists in the win.

Nazareth is now 17-10 overall and 4-2 in the UVC, while Fisher drops to 22-8 and 4-3, respectively. With a win over Elmira (1-4 UVC) on Wednesday, Nazareth would secure at least the number three seed for the UVC Championships.

In the decisive fifth set, Nazareth jumped out to a 6-1 lead. The unsung hero of the set was sophomore Brendan O'Brien who came into serve and helped Nazareth expand a 9-7 lead to 13-7. 

The Cardinals clawed back with four-straight before Wickens had a big kill, followed by Weaver ending the set.

Nazareth came out swinging in the first set, hitting .435 on 23 swings, putting down 14 kills with four errors. 

The score was tied at 21 apiece but Nazareth ripped off four-straight, beginning with a Murphy Kill to take the set. He hit an impressive .588 in the match.

After dropping the second, Nazareth was strong in the third, hitting .476 with 14 kills on 21 attempts with four errors. With the score at 20-18, Nazareth scored four-straight to seize control. Murphy had a pair of kills along with Wickens on the run.

The fourth set was tight throughout until the Cardinals scored the final two points.

Bodensteiner converted 13 of 16 attacks for an .812 attack percentage. Weaver and Murphy each had four block assists. Wickens led Naz with 11 digs.

Nazareth returns to action on Wednesday, hosting Elmira for Senior Day at 6 p.m.