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Nazareth wins UVC title
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ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Top-seed Nazareth rallied to defeat
seventh-seeded New Paltz in the inaugural United Volleyball
Conference championship Sunday afternoon, hosted by Nazareth
College. The scores were 30-32, 18-25, 25-19, 25-23, 18-16.
Sophomore EJ
Wells-Spicer recorded 60 assists and eight digs to earn
tournament MVP honors.
Nazareth, ranked second nationally in the American Volleyball
Coaches Association poll, improves to 25-3 overall following the
victory. The Hawks, ranked 15th nationally in the AVCA poll, drop
to 20-12 overall. Prior to Sunday's match, the Golden Flyers had
defeated New Paltz twice during the regular season. Nazareth won in
four sets February 12th and March 5th.
In the decisive fifth set, the Hawks controlled most of the early
action and opened a 7-3 lead. New Paltz maintained its lead and
held a 12-8 advantage before Nazareth tallied six of the next seven
points to take a 14-13 lead. After trading match points, the Golden
Flyers put together consecutive kills by junior Billy
Gimello and sophomore Robert
Kraft to take a 17-16 lead. On the Golden Flyers' ensuing
serve, the Hawks committed a ball-handling error trying to set up
their attack.
New Paltz won the evenly contested first set, outlasting Nazareth
32-30. The Golden Flyers held a 16-13 lead before the Hawks rallied
with four straight points. Jakub Chleboun recorded three
consecutive service aces during New Paltz's run. The teams traded
points before the Hawks' Mike Van Tyne connected on a kill attempt
and New Paltz forced the Golden Flyers into a hitting error.
The Hawks controlled the second set after recording four straight
points to break open a 9-9 tie. New Paltz went on to defeat
Nazareth 25-18 thanks to the Hawks' .579 hitting percentage.
The Golden Flyers' rally started in the third set. Nazareth held
an early lead, 10-7, before New Paltz drew even, 13-13. After the
score was tied at 17 all, the Golden Flyers rolled off four
consecutive points to take a 21-17 lead and went on to the
six-point victory. A hitting error by New Paltz ignited the crucial
scoring run, followed by a solo block by senior Will
Siwy, a kill by senior Hans
Schroeder and a second hitting error by the Hawks.
In the fourth set, Nazareth opened an 11-8 lead followig an ace by
Wells-Spicer and a hitting error by New Paltz. The Golden Flyers
had a six-point lead, 19-13, following an ace by Kraft, but the
Hawks answered with nine of the next 13 points to close their
deficit to within one point, 23-22. After a timeout, Nazareth
secured the fourth-set victory following consecutive kills by
senior Brian
Bunch and Kraft.
Gimello finished with a team-high 19 kills, followed by Schroeder
with 13 kills and Kraft with 11 kills. Schroeder eclipsed the
1,000-kill mark in his career with his 13 kills and now stands at
1,007 kills in his career at Nazareth. senior Ellis Wlash and Bunch
each chipped in eight kills to the Golden Flyers' attack. Gimello
also had a team-high three service aces.
Defensively, Nazareth clamped down in the final sets to frustrate
the Hawks' attack. Sophomore Dan
Mowery recorded a match-high 14 digs and Bunch and
Wells-Spicer each added eight digs. Kraft finished with a
match-high five total blocks while Walsh recorded four total
blocks.
Mike Van Tyne tallied a match-high 20 kills for the Hawks. Kevin
Stross and Keith MacDonald also finished in double-digits in kills
with 15 kills and 12 kills, respectively. Andrew Cassius had 60
assists and 12 digs for the Hawks while MacDonald recorded a
team-high 13 digs. Chleboun finished with a match-high four service
aces.
The Golden Flyers are in action again for the NECVA championship,
April 1-3.
