Lions Fall to No. 7 Nazareth in Four

ERIE, Pa.  – The seventh-ranked Nazareth men's volleyball team posted a 3-1 win over Penn State Behrend in United Volleyball Conference (UVC) action on Thursday night.

Brody Cord led the Golden Flyers (20-4, 3-2 UVC) with 13 kills, while Kane Wittorff tallied 11 kills and five blocks. For the Lions (11-10, 1-5 UVC), Josh Oertly (Cochranton, PA/Cochranton) and Derek Polishen (Plum, PA/Plum) each had 10 kills. Polishen completed the double-double with 12 digs.

Nazareth was able to hold off an aggressive Behrend team, thirsty to get their first over the Golden Flyers. Each set was decided by four points or less with the first one going to Nazareth 25-23. The Lions won the second 25-23, but the Golden Flyers recorded identical scores of 25-21 in the final two sets for the conference win.

Behrend rebounded from the first set to knot the match at 1-all in the second. With the score tied at 20-all, the Lions took a two-point lead on a kill from Trenton Munk (Baden, PA/Ambridge) and an ace from Eric Theiss (Plum, PA/Plum). Two service errors later and a kill from Oertly, Behrend was back in the match instead of a two-game deficit.

In the third, Nazareth held a seven-point lead and the Lions were able to cut it to three at 22-19. This time, Behrend had a few service errors and Cord made is fourth kill of the set for a 25-21 victory.

The Lions grabbed the early lead in the fourth, leading by as many as four at 10-6. A service ace by Cord gave Nazareth its first lead at 14-13. The Golden Flyers held onto that lead for the remainder of the match and eventually earned a 25-21 decision for the match.

Aaron Mueller (Ambridge, PA/Ambridge) led with 16 assists and Ryan Robida (Cheektowaga, NY/Maryvale) was close behind with 15 helpers.

Behrend returns to action on Saturday against Eastern Mennonite. Match begins at 1 p.m.