ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College women's volleyball team started off its three-match weekend at the RIT Invitational on Friday evening with a straight-set win over Lycoming College 25-16, 25-19, 25-15. With the non-conference victory the Cardinals improve to 16-14 overall on the season, while the Warriors fall to 14-18 overall on the year.

To open the first set, both teams battled back-and-forth to try and gain the early momentum. However, it wasn't until the scoreboard read 9-8 where Fisher took control of the first set.

The Cardinals would use their offense to its advantage, eventually launching them onto two separate four-point scoring runs led by Alea Steigerwald and Alex Buhrle from the service line. Fisher held strong for the majority of the first set, eventually closing out the Warriors with the help of an Izzy Smith kill.

Fisher continued its momentum into the second set, rattling off the first three points which included two Steigerwald kills. Aside from a pair of Lycoming three-point scoring runs, the Cardinal offense was the difference maker in the second set, totaling 15 kills and a .237 hitting percentage.

Both Steigerwald and Smith would finish with five kills apiece in the second set victory, while senior Erica Pawlewicz added two of her own.

The Warriors were able to open the scoring in third set, however from there the Cardinals stormed out to a seven-point run led by Pawlewicz's two service aces.

Fisher would not look back from there, putting together another six-point scoring run midway through the set, this time led by Mikhala Martens at the service line. After Lycoming fought back to within six, Fisher finished off the match with four-straight points, with Steigerwald and Olivia Levulis ending the match with a huge double block.

Steigerwald would lead the Fisher offense with 12 kills, while Smith added eight and Pawlewicz finished with five. Levulis was unstoppable at the net throughout the match, finishing with a career-high eight total blocks to go along with four kills.

Rebecca Hay handled the setting duties notching a game-high 31 assists, with Elise Kreuz leading the way defensively with a game-high 14 digs.

The Cardinals are back on the court tomorrow for two non-conference matches at the RIT Invitational, first they will take on Buffalo State at 11 a.m. followed by the hosts RIT at 1 p.m.