BOX SCORE

The St. John Fisher College volleyball team pulled out a thrilling five-set victory against the RIT Tigers, Tuesday night at Clark Gymnasium on the campus of RIT.  
 
With the win, the Cardinals improve to 13-14, while RIT dips to 14-18
 
Fisher won the first set after overcoming an early hole to tie the score at 6-6.  The Cardinals would break the scoreless tie as Ali Mann served up an ace to make it 7-6.  RIT would keep pace, however, matching Fisher point-for-point, tying the set two more times before the visiting Cardinals were able to pull away after building a 20-13 lead before closing the door, 25-19.
 
In the second frame, Fisher got off to a quick start, building a 20-12 lead, forcing RIT to call a timeout to regroup.  The Tigers did just that, cutting Fisher's lead in half as the home team scored six points to make it 22-18, but the hole was too much to overcome as Rachael Kline smashed two kills down the stretch to propel Fisher to a 25-22 win.
 
Down two sets, the Tigers responded in the third, jumping out to a quick 12-3 lead.  After a short rally by the Cardinals, RIT saw its advantage swell to 20-10, but that lead would nearly evaporate as Brooke Meader registered two service aces making it 22-16.  After an RIT timeout, the home team scored three of the next five points to earn a 25-18 win and the right to play in a fourth set.
 
RIT continued its strong play in the fourth frame, sprinting out to a 16-6 lead before the Cardinals were forced to call timeout.  The break in action did little to slow the Tiger's momentum.  RIT would stretch its advantage to 22-10 before wrapping up the win at 25-11 as a fifth and final set would be needed to determine the winner.
 
The final frame was a back-and-forth affair, featuring 11 ties and 12 lead changes, but it would be the Cardinals that came out on top with Jasmine Davis clubbing the game-winning kill.
 
Paige Willson tallied nine kills and five blocks in the win, while Kline had nine kills of her own.  Andrea Gillespie notched 11 digs and Davis recorded eight kills.  Erica Stickler had 14 assists and Mann had 12 helpers.
 
The Cardinals will return to conference play at 4 p.m. against Ithaca College at the Empire 8 Crossover hosted by Nazareth College.