ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College women's volleyball team split its final two games of the weekend at the University of Rochester Invitational. Fisher came back from two sets to none down in the first match of the day versus Wells College to win in five sets 17-25, 13-25, 25-20, 25-21, 15-8. The Cardinals would then fall to the hosts Rochester in three sets 11-25, 20-25, 15-25 to round out the weekend. The Cardinals moved to 3-5 overall, while the Express fell to 2-5 overall and the Yellowjackets improved to 8-0 in 2018.   

After dropping the first two sets of the opening match versus Wells, Head Coach Kelly Greapentrog's team fought hard and rallied from behind to win its third straight match. Fisher stormed out in the third set to a 16-8 advantage, with the help of two consecutive Alea Steigerwald service aces that caused the Express to call a quick timeout. Keeping the pressure on to close out the set, Rebecca Hay ended the third set with a service ace of her own.

The fourth set saw both teams trading points back and forth throughout the majority of the set. However, a kill from Izzy Smith, followed by an Elise Kreuz service ace, pushed Fisher ahead 23-18 to help guarantee a deciding fifth set.

Much like the third set, the Cardinals jumped out to a quick start in the fifth set, opening on a 4-0 run led by two Steigerwald kills. After a Wells timeout, Fisher rattled off a 5-0 run, pushing its lead to a commanding 13-4. Followed by three straight Express points, Smith finished off the comeback for the Cardinals with a kill to end the match.

The freshman Steigerwald led all players with a new career-high 21 kills, while Smith and Julia Halsey added 11 and seven respectively. Hay assisted on 27 kills, while Molly Taylor also saw action at the setter position, posting 15 assists. Steigerwald also led the way defensively, tallying a game-high 24 digs, while the libero Kreuz pitched in 23.

Following the comeback win over the Express, the Cardinals jumped right back on the court and would fall to the hosts Rochester Yellowjackets. Fisher would finish the match with 21 kills, led by nine from Steigerwald.

After dropping the first set, Fisher rallied in the second set and tied the set up at 13-13 with a Hay kill. However, the Rochester offense could not be stopped, as the Yellowjackets closed out the final two sets and the match hitting a .376 throughout.

Senior Erica Pawlewicz finished with three kills in the match, as well as one block. Hay posted another 17 assists, while Steigerwald posted another team-high in digs with 11.

The Cardinals return to the court on Tuesday, when they travel to Buffalo to take on D'Youville College in a non-conference matchup at 7 p.m.