PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College men's volleyball team fell to Elmira College in four sets Thursday afternoon on Bobby Wanzer Court 13-25, 22-25, 25-21, 20-25. With the loss, the Cardinals fall to 11-12 and 0-6 in the United Volleyball Conference, while Elmira improve to 18-7 overall and 4-2 in the UVC.
 
The Cardinals fell in the first set, as the Soaring Eagles who are currently receiving votes in the NCAA Division III Poll were able to take the early momentum offensively finishing with a .500 hitting percentage in the opening set.
 
Fisher fought back in the second set as both teams traded points back-and-forth for the majority of the second set. Late in the set, Fisher saw themselves down 22-16 until the team was able to rattle off a five point run to bring the game within one at 22-21. Tyler English started off the scoring run with a kill, while Ben De La Cruz was steady from the service line. Eventually Elmira was able to hold off the comeback to take the 2-0 lead, but not without two kills from Paul Hackford.
 
The Cardinals did not let go of the momentum that they earned with their scoring runs in the second set. After both teams again showed their competitive edges with no large scoring runs between them, Fisher scored five straight to take a 15-12 lead midway through the third. Huge kills from Mike Strumpfler and Matt Broderick helped maintain the serve. Another four-point Cardinal run put them ahead 21-18 and they never looked back eventually taking the set 25-21.
 
Much like the first set, Elmira took advantage of some Fisher serving errors as they maintained a lead in the fourth set. The Soaring Eagles took the fourth set 25-20 and the match three sets to one. In the team's first meeting of the 2018 season.
 
De La Cruz and Broderick led the way offensively for the Cardinals finishing with eight kills apiece, while English and Strumpfler each added six kills out of the middle. Paul Hackford finished with a team-high 28 assists along with four kills and five digs.
 
Defensively libero David Cerqua again led the way with 10 digs, while De La Cruz pitched in five of his own.
 
The Cardinals are back in action on Sunday when the team hosts Bard College in another United Volleyball Conference matchup as well as Senior Day inside Manning and Napier Gymnasium scheduled for a 11 a.m. start.