Nazareth Edges Men's Volleyball

ERIE, Pa. – The Nazareth men's volleyball team posted a 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-23) win over Penn State Behrend in United Volleyball Conference (UVC) action on Thursday night in the Junker Center.

The Golden Flyers (16-11, 3-3 UVC) narrowly won each set to remain undefeated against the Lions (9-12, 1-5 UVC) and snap a two-match losing streak.

Tyler Herrmann (Cranberry Township, PA/Seneca Valley) and Dillon Hildebrand (Red Lion, PA/Red Lion) each recorded eight kills for Behrend, while Calvin Nowicki (Eden, NY/Eden) had a stat line of 15 assists, eight digs, five kills and three blocks.

After being down by five points at 8-3 in the first set, the Lions pulled within two points on six occasions including 24-22 before falling on a service error. Kane Wittorff tallied five of Nazareth's 15 kills for the set.

The Lions took a bit to warm up in the second set just like the first. The Golden Flyers went up 7-3 to start, forcing a Behrend timeout. Down the stretch, the Lions went on a 4-1 run to make it 24-22 once again. Nazareth took a breather on a timeout and came back with a kill from Zachary Gillard, his fifth of the set for an identical score of 25-22.

The Golden Flyers did not have a chance to pull away in the third. The Lions battled until the end to keep the match alive, knotting the game at 18-all with the serves from Herrmann and a kill from Hildebrand. Nazareth tallied three straight points and got to match point at 24-21. A service error combined with a Herrmann kill made it 24-23. Wittorff, who got the Golden Flyers to match point with a kill, won it with another at 25-23.

Herrmann added eight digs to his eight kills and Anthony Sprentz (Cranberry Township, PA/Seneca Valley) handed out 10 assists.

Behrend returns to action on Tuesday against Hilbert. Match is at 7 p.m.