ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College men's volleyball team jumped back into conference play on Wednesday as the Cardinals earned a first set win before surrendering the next three to fall to East Avenue rival Nazareth College 25-20, 18-25, 21-25, 20-25 in what marked the first-ever meeting between the two programs.  With the loss, Fisher evened its season record at 9-9 and dipped to 0-3 in the United Volleyball Conference.  The Golden Flyers improved to 11-6 on the year and 2-1 in UVC play.
 
The Cardinals were able to shake off a slow start in the opening set after falling behind 9-5 in the early going.  Fisher would score five of the set's next six points including a kill from Kevin Cahill to knot things up at 10-10.  The Golden Flyers would score three straight points only to see Fisher battle back with successive kills from Cahill and Joe Kenney to keep it tied at 14 points apiece.  From there, Fisher open up a four-point edge, 21-17, behind two kills from Ben De La Cruz before closing out the set with a 4-1 run.
 
In the second set, Nazareth controlled the pace from the get-go as the Golden Flyers jumped out to a 12-9 lead.  The Cardinals would cut the deficit to two points following a kill from De La Cruz, but Nazareth responded with four of the set's next five points to hold a 17-12 cushion.  Fisher would pull to within three points, but was unable to close the gap as the Golden Flyers tied the contest at one set apiece.
 
The home team continued to strike the ball well in the third frame and used a 4-0 run to crack a 7-7 tie.  Fisher remained in striking distance with a kill from Mike Strumpfler and two unforced Nazareth errors, but the Golden Flyers built a five-point advantage en route to a 25-21 win.
 
In the deciding set, Fisher got off to quick lead as two kills from Strumpfler staked the visitors to a 5-3 lead.  The Cardinals would maintain their hold until a 6-1 burst from Nazareth made it 11-8 in the home team's favor.  After keeping it close throughout the set, Fisher would eventually find itself in a six-point hole before notching two points to make it 24-20, but that was as close as it would get as Nazareth tallied the final point to earn the conference win.
 
Freshman Paul Hackford fueled the Cardinals' attack with 41 assists while the Orchard Park native also produced four digs, two blocks and two kills.  Cahill led Fisher with 13 kills while De La Cruz led finished with 12 spikes.  Kenney had an all-around game with six kills and 10 digs while freshman libero David Cerqua was credited with 17 digs in all.  Strumpfler had four kills and 4.5 blocks in the middle.
 
Fisher will return to action at 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 10th as it travels to New Paltz to battle the Hawks in UVC play.