HIRAM, OHIO – The St. John Fisher College men's volleyball team split its two matches on Saturday afternoon, wrapping up play at the Terrier Invite. In the first match, the Cardinals fell to Loras College in straight sets 17-25, 19-25, 14-25 and then followed up with a four set win over Hiram 22-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-19. Fisher now sits at 2-3 overall on the season while Loras improved to 6-0 and Hiram fell to 1-4.

In the Cardinals' first match of the afternoon, Loras College took advantage of consistent offensive production throughout and was able to post an average hitting percentage of .364 in the three set affair.

Josh Bigford was able to lead the Fisher offense versus the Duhawks, as the freshman finished the match with eight kills and four digs.

Fellow freshman Ivan Lopez pitched in five kills and two blocks, while Paul Hackford posted a 19 assists. David Cerqua led the way on the defensive end, notching 12 of the team's 25 total digs.

After the loss to Loras, Fisher was able to battle back and grab its second victory of the season over the hosts Hiram in four back-and-forth sets.

After falling in the first set, the Cardinals rallied back in the second set tying the match back up at one set apiece. Both teams jockeyed for the momentum for the majority of the second set, until the scoreboard read 19-19.

It was at that point where Fisher made its move with a four-point scoring run, followed by a kill from Andres Ramirez to cap off a strong second set.

The third set followed suit, as the Cardinals were able to battle from behind, using two separate four-point runs throughout the third. Kills from Lopez and Ramirez finished off the Terriers, giving Fisher a two sets to none advantage heading into the fourth.

Once again, both sides traded points for the majority of the fourth set until Hiram held an 18-17 lead late in the set. From there, it was all Fisher as the Cardinals finished off the Terriers with an 8-1 scoring run, with kills from Lopez and Bigford sealing their second win of the 2019 season.

Bigford led the Cardinal offense attack again in the second match, as the freshman tallied 14 kills and eight digs, while Ramirez added nine kills of his own. Fellow freshman Dylan Urbanski handled the setting duties and notched a game-high 43 assists, with Cerqua posting a team-high 11 digs.

The Cardinals return to action on Friday, February 1st at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. when they welcome Medaille College and SUNY Poly to Manning and Napier Varsity Gymnasium for the Fisher Invite.