Buffalo, NY – The D'Youville men's volleyball team lost a pair of matches in their final host tri-match of the season on Friday afternoon, falling to the Nazareth Golden Flyers 3-1 and the Daemen Wildcats 3-1.

In their first match of the day against Nazareth, the Spartans came out strong in the first set. They never trailed in the first, holding a lead as large as eight on their way to a 25-19 first set victory. The Golden Flyers would come back in the second and get the upper hand on the Spartans. They led 13-6 and added to their lead at 21-11 as they won the second 25-12.

The third set was the most competitive of the match as it went down to the wire. Going back and forth throughout the set, the Golden Flyer went ahead 24-21 before D'Youville would come back and tie the set at 24-24. With the set tied at 25-25, Nazareth would score the final two points of the match to win the third 27-25.

Nazareth would get out to an early 7-3 lead in the fourth set of the match. They continued to hold their lead, increasing it to 21-12 on their way to a 25-17 fourth set victory and a 3-1 match win.

Ryan Kilijanski (West Seneca, NY/West Seneca West) led the team with nine kills, followed by Ali Khadra (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville East) with eight. Zac Bochacki (West Seneca, NY/West Seneca West) and Pat Stroh (Hamburg, NY/Hamburg) recorded with five each with Karl Jauch (Lockport, NY/Starpoint) registering a team high 24 assists.

Chance MacDowell (Bloomfield, NY/Bloomfield) led the team with five digs as Bochacki chipped in with four.

All four sets of the second match against Daemen were tightly contested. The Wildcats took a 14-10 lead, maintaining their four-point advantage at 22-18 and 24-20, going on to win the first set 25-22.

The Spartans rebounded in the second set to lead 8-4. Daemen would come back to lead 19-17 over D'Youville, but the two teams would continue fighting as they were tied at 24-24. However, the Spartans won the battle as they scored three of the final four points to win the second 27-25 and tie the match at 1-1.

Daemen was in control for most of the third set, leading 12-6. Their six-point lead increased to eight at 24-16 before D'Youville would score five unanswered points to trail by three at 24-21. However, the Wildcats would score the final point of the third to win the set 25-21.

D'Youville would jump out to a 6-1 lead in the fourth set, maintaining their five-point advantage at 11-6. The Wildcats would then come back to trail by two, then tying the set at 18-18. Over the next several points, Daemen would take control as they led 24-23. However, the Spartans would continue pushing back to lead 27-26. The set would become tied at 29-29, but the Wildcats would score the final two points to win the set 31-29 and the match 3-1.

Bochacki led the team with 13 kills against Daemen. Kilijanski tallied 10 kills and 12 digs – a team high. Jauch registered 30 assists and eight digs with Khadra recording seven kills. Khadra added a team high seven blocks as Evan Oliver (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville South), Danny Steck (Lancaster, NY/St. Francis), and Bochacki each tallying three blocks.

The next match for the Spartans comes at home this Wednesday, March 27 as they host Penn State-Behrend at 7:00pm.