CAMBRIDGE, M.A. – The St. John Fisher College men's volleyball team took to the court again on Sunday afternoon for the second day of the UVC Crossover versus #15 MIT on the campus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Cardinals fell to the number fifteen ranked Engineers in a hard fought five set affair 14-25, 25-22, 18-25, 25-22, 9-15. Fisher falls to 6-6 overall and 0-2 in the UVC, while MIT improves to 8-1 and 1-1 in the conference.
After falling victim in the first set to the Engineers, the Cardinals rallied in the second set with timely kills and excellent team defense to tie the game up at one set apiece.
Tristan Rapp was provided a spark off the bench finishing with two kills and two blocks in the set, while teammate
Kevin Cahill put away four of his eight kills in the second set.
A hard fought third set went the MIT way, however Fisher was able to take back the momentum in the fourth set.
Brandon Cox-Bagley came into the game and was able to serve the Cardinals on an early six point run that put them ahead 7-2 in the set. The teams traded points back-and-forth throughout the set until kills by
Ben De La Cruz and
Mike Strumpfler closed out the set and sent the game to a deciding fifth set.
At the midway point of the fifth set, Fisher jumped out to an early 6-3 run until the Engineers took the lead 8-6 at the midway point and eventually the match 12-15.
De La Cruz once again led the way for the Cardinals offensively finishing with 16 kills, while Strumpfler was able to add 14 of his own and
Joe Kenney added another 12. Strumpfler also added three blocks, five digs, and a very impressive .542 hitter percentage in the match.
Paul Hackford notched a game-high 45 assists to go along with a team-high 13 digs and five kills. Libero
David Cerqua added 12 digs in the match with Kenney adding another five.
The Cardinals are back in action on Friday as the team travels down the road to Nazareth College to take on Lasell College at 4 p.m. and followed by Medaille College at 6 p.m. in non-conference action.
