ELMIRA, N.Y. -- Sophomores Grant Levermore and Tim Zyburt each had 14 kills and junior setter Nick McDonagh amassed 45 assists for Nazareth Sunday as the Golden Flyers defeated Stevens Institute in a four-set match at the United Volleyball Conference Crossover at Elmira's Speidel Gymnasium. Scores were 25-22, 15-25, 25-22, 26-24.
The victory, combined with Saturday wins against Bard and New York University, enabled Nazareth to complete a weekend sweep of its three crossover matches. The 10th-ranked Golden Flyers improved to 12-5 overall and 10-1 in UVC matches. Nazareth clinched the top seed and hosting privileges for the conference tournament April 12-13.
Levermore's 14 kills came with just two hitting errors in 29 attempts for a percentage of .414. He also had a team-high 11 digs. Zyburt had six errors in 35 attempts for a .229 hitting percentage. Juniors Luke Lawatsch and Brody Cord had 10 and seven kills respectively.
Nazareth scored 19 of its first-set points on kills and never trailed in a 25-22 win. Zyburt had six of his kills and Levermore added four. Stevens dominated the second set, before Nazareth came back for close wins in sets three and four. Levermore and Chris Mahan each had three kills in the third set and Zyburt (5) and Levermore (4) combined for nine kills in the fourth set.
The fourth set was tied at 24-24, but Nazareth closed it out with a kill by Lawatsch and a Stevens hitting error.
