MECHANICSBURG, Pa. (nazathletics.com) - Nazareth Men's Volleyball (7-9, 0-1) dropped a road contest to Messiah (12-2), 3-0, Friday night inside Hitchcock Arena. 

HOW IT HAPPENED 

• Nazareth kept pace in the first set behind kills from Joe Seliger and Ryan Murphy, trimming an early deficit to 12-7 after Quinn Ringstad and Quintin Chiles finished swings in transition. Trailing 18-10, AJ Burda sparked a 4-0 burst with back-to-back service aces and a forced attack error to cut it to 18-14. Chiles and Burda added late kills to stay within striking distance at 23-18, but a closing ace ended the set, 25-18.
• Murphy and Seliger combined for early sideout points, but a 5-0 run turned an 8-5 deficit into a 13-5 gap in the second set. Burda answered with kills from Daniel Mangan and Chiles in serve receive to make it 20-10, yet Nazareth struggled to slow extended service pressure as the margin grew to 24-10 before the set-clinching ace sealed a 25-10 decision.
• After trading points to start the frame 2-2, Nazareth fell behind 9-3 in the third set following consecutive aces. Murphy delivered an ace of his own to cut it to 14-8 and Burda added late swings to make it 22-9 and 23-10, but Nazareth could not recover as the match closed at 25-12.

GAME NOTES

• AJ Burda led the Golden Flyers with eight assists, six kills, two digs and two service aces. 
• Ryan Murphy tacked on four kills to bring his total to a team-best 149. 

UP NEXT 
Nazareth continues its road stand with back-to-back matches at Widener, tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 21. The Golden Flyers play hosts Widener at 11 a.m. before facing Drew at 1 p.m. in Chester, Pa. 

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