The St. John Fisher College volleyball team lost 3-0 (18-25, 17-25, 20-25) to Houghton College on Wednesday in Empire 8 Conference action.

With the loss the Cardinals are now 10-8 overall and 1-3 in Empire 8 play while the Highlanders improve to 13-7, 3-1 in 2015.

In the first set, Fisher jumped out to a 4-2 lead after Elise Kruez picked up two service aces early on. Houghton responded by scoring nine out of the next 13 points in the set to take an 11-8 lead. The two teams traded points throughout the remainder of the set as the Highlanders eventually won 25-18.

Houghton controlled the majority of the second set as the Highlanders jumped out to a 6-2 lead. Fisher fell victim to efficient play in the set as Houghton only committed one error while the Cardinals had nine errors. Although Fisher senior Megan Miller tallied six kills in the set, the Cardinals went on to fall 25-17, and 2-0 in the contest.

The third set began with Fisher facing a 6-1 deficit. The Cardinals rallied back when a Miller kill kick-started a 9-4 run to tie the game at 10-10. Houghton out-scored Fisher 15-10 the rest of the way and took the set 25-20 to win the match 3-0.

Miller and Kruez led the way for the Cardinals as Miller had a season-high 15 kills to go along with 13 digs while Kruez finished with a team-high 21 digs.

Meghan Stonebarger led the team with 32 assists and Anna Marcy totaled nine kills in the game.

Fisher will return to action on Saturday when it hosts an Empire 8 Crossover event with matches at 11 a.m. against Utica College and 4 p.m. against Elmira College.