ROCHESTER, New York—No. 13 nationally ranked Mount Union men's volleyball fell to No. 9 Nazareth in five sets, 25-21, 21-25, 25-20, 27-29 and 13-15 Friday night.
 
The Purple Raiders (8-2) were led on offense by senior Cameron Ternent (Canal Fulton / Massillon Jackson) who had 22 kills on a hitting percentage of .348.
 
Sophomore Will Heeney (Hudson / Walsh Jesuit) led Mount Union in assists with 41 while sophomore Aaron Armour (Waukesha, Wis. / Catholic Memorial) led the Raiders in digs with 15 while junior Jack McClure (Massillon / Massillon Jackson) and senior Luke Trzeciak (Cranberry, Pa. / Seneca Valley) had 13 and 11.
 
The middle blockers of senior Andrew Cross (St. Louis, Mo. / St. Louis University High) and freshman Michael Bowler (Broadview Heights / Brecksville-Broadview Heights) found their rhythm and tallied 20 blocks between them. Cross finished with the sixth most blocks in a five set match with 12 blocks eight solo and four assisted while Bowler had eight total as he had four of each.
 
Nazareth (12-0) was led on offense by Owen Wickens with 29 kills on just .155 hitting percentage.
 
In a back and forth set one the game saw eight ties and five lead changes. Nazareth took an early 5-3 lead and lengthened it to 11-7. Mount Union responded with a 5-1 run to tie the game at 12. Both teams battled to 17 but Mount Union ended the set on an 8-4 run to take set one 25-21.
 
The second set Nazareth took another lead of 11-7 but this time extended it to 15-10. Mount Union responded with its own 5-0 run to tie the game, but Nazareth came back with a 5-0 run and kept its lead the rest of the set winning 25-21.
 
For the third set once again, there was nine ties and two lead changes. This set had no lead larger than two points until the end where Mount Union finished the set on a 7-2 run to win the set 25-20.
 
The fourth set saw 14 ties and seven lead changes as Mount Union got out to early leads of 7-4 and 12-7. Nazareth battled back to tie the set at 13. Neither team led by more than two points the rest of the way as Nazareth battled to a 29-27 set win.
 
Nazareth took command of the fifth set taking a 7-2 lead and holding on for a 15-13 set win.
 
Mount Union continues its trip in Rochester with games against SUNY Poly at 12 pm and the host No. 5 nationally ranked St. John Fisher at 2 pm.