PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College women's volleyball team hosted a pair of Empire 8 Conference games inside Manning & Napier Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals fell in a five-set thriller to Stevens in their first match of the day 25-23, 25-15, 34-32, 20-25, 11-15 and then followed up with a straight set victory over Elmira 25-20, 25-17, 25-17. Fisher moves to 15-13 overall and 6-2 in the conference, while the Ducks improve to 22-7 overall and the Soaring Eagles fall to 11-17 overall.

The Cardinals came out swinging to start their two-match day versus Stevens, battling through a back-and-forth first set where Fisher would notch 13 kills, compared to the six of the Ducks, with Alea Steigerwald notching four of them. The Cardinals used a five to one scoring run late in the set, to come back from being down 20-22 to take home the first set victory.

The Ducks battled back in the second set to tie the match back up at one set apiece, as Fisher totaled 10 kills in the set, with Bernadette Nichols leading the way with four kills.

The third set was one for the record books, as the Cardinals and Ducks combined for 66 points and 34 kills in the third set alone. Both sides battled back-and-forth, exchanging points and consecutive four-point runs, which put a 22-22 tie on the scoreboard.

Stevens was able to earn match point at 23-24, however after a timeout called by Head Coach Kelly Greapentrog, the Cardinals were able to earn their own game-point with two consecutive kills from Nichols.

Both teams continued to claw their way through every point, until eventually a Steven's attack error and a kill from Steigerwald finished off the third set marathon in Fisher's advantage.

The Ducks were once again able to fight back in the fourth set, knotting the match back up at two sets apiece. A pair of Fisher scoring runs led by Mikhala Martens at the service line, were not enough to overcome the late Steven's lead.

Izzy Smith and Steigerwald got the Fisher offense started in the fifth set, however a pair of early three-point scoring runs by Stevens turned out to be the difference maker in the deciding set.

Steigerwald led the way for Fisher in the five-set match finishing with a game-high 25 kills and 22 digs, while Nichols posted a career-high 16 kills, with Smith adding another 11. Rebecca Hay finished with a game-high 53 assists, while freshman Julia Halsey notched four service aces.

In the Cardinals' straight set victory over the Soaring Eagles, Steigerwald moved into fourth all-time for kills in a single season, as the freshman currently sits at 406 on the season.

Fisher grabbed control from the start, jumping out to an 18-12 lead with the help of four service aces and three kills from Erica Pawlewicz. The Cardinals kept their foot on the gas, finishing the first set with three straight points and two Steigerwald kills.

The Cardinals kept the momentum going in the second set and finished with a whopping .345 hitting percentage with 14 kills on 29 attempts. Once again, the Cardinals wrapped up the second set win with a five-point scoring run, which included a monster block from Smith and Olivia Levulis.

Much like the previous two sets, Fisher stormed out to an early 9-3 lead off of two Elise Kreuz service aces. After surrendering two five-point scoring runs to Elmira, the Cardinals battled back and used a seven-point Hay serving run to launch them to their sixth Empire 8 Conference victory of the season.

Steigerwald was once again the leader of the offensive attack, posting another game-high 13 kills to go along with 16 digs and four service aces. Nichols added another seven kills to her daily total, while Smith added six kills and two blocks.

Hay handled the setting duties, notching 27 assists and three service aces, while Kreuz added 13 kills and two assists from the libero spot.

The Cardinals are back in action on Tuesday at 6 p.m. when they welcome SUNY Cortland to Bobby Wanzer Court for a non-conference matchup.