UTICA, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College women's volleyball team took down Utica College on Wednesday night in an Empire 8 Conference matchup in straight sets 25-16, 26-24, 25-19. With the win, the Cardinals improve to 11-9 overall and 3-1 in the conference, while the Pioneers fall to 3-12 overall and 1-2 in the Empire 8.

Fisher's offense came out swinging in the first, totaling 13 kills and a .267 hitting percentage in the first set. The Cardinals opened up a 7-2 run, which included two kills from Emily Risch and a service ace from Rebecca Hay.

Both teams would battle back-and-forth from there until a Utica time-out was called with Fisher leading 17-15. Following the timeout, the Cardinals rattled off seven straight points to open up a commanding 24-15 advantage. During the scoring run, Elise Kreuz served all seven points, while Alea Steigerwald had three kills. After a point by the host Pioneers, Risch would finish off the first set with a kill out of the middle, giving Fisher the first set victory.

The second set saw consistent back-and-forth action, with a pair of three-point runs from Fisher, followed by a Utica four point run, that brought the score to a 21-21 tie. A kill from senior Erica Pawlewicz gave Fisher a temporary advantage before two Pioneer points spotted the home team a two-point advantage. The lead would be short-lived as Steigerwald clubbed a kill coupled with an attacking error by Utica to give Fisher set-point with Kreuz heading to the service line. Utica was able to fight off the first set point, however, another Steigerwald kill, followed by a Utica attack error gave Fisher the two-set advantage.

Fisher took home the straight set win, with the help of a steady offensive attack with five different Cardinals notching multiple kills. Fisher finished the match with kills from Steigerwald and Pawlewicz.

Following a historic week that saw her club 32 kills in a match, Steigerwald led the Cardinals' offense with a game-high 16 kills, 22 digs, and a .350 hitting percentage. Izzy Smith added nine kills, while Pawlewicz, Risch, and Bernadette Nichols all finished the match with four kills. Hay handled the setting duties, notching a game-high 34 assists.

The Cardinals are back in action on Saturday, when they travel Troy, N.Y. for two Empire 8 Conference matches, first versus Alfred University at 1:30 p.m., followed by The Sage Colleges at 4 p.m.