HOBOKEN, N.J. – The St. John Fisher College women's volleyball team was back in action on Friday with a pair of non-conference bouts as the Cardinals traveled to Hoboken, N.J. and Canavan Arena to take on former Empire 8 foe Stevens Institute of Technology and The Catholic University of America.  The Cardinals were handed a 20-25, 25-19, 19-25, 17-25 loss to the Ducks before holding on for a five-set win over Catholic, 24-26, 25-21, 25-21, 19-25, 15-10.  With the split, Fisher improved to 17-7 overall.

STEVENS 3, FISHER 1

After falling in the opening set to the host Ducks, 25-20, the Cardinals would even things up in the second set.  Fisher would open the frame with three unanswered points before a service error made it 3-1.  As the set continued, both teams would swap points until an attack error by the Cardinals allowed Stevens to tie things up at 6-6.

From there, Fisher took advantage of a service error by the home team and built a three-point lead capped off by an Alea Steigerwald kill to make it 10-7 in the Cardinals' favor. 

The lead remained in the visitors' hands until Stevens battled back to even things up at 11-11, however, back-to-back kills from Lindsey DeBonis and Steigerwald gave Fisher a two-point cushion midway through the set.
The Ducks would knot things up again at 16-16, but were unable to keep pace with the Cardinals as Fisher reeled off seven of the next eight points en route to the 25-19 win.

With the match tied up at one set apiece, the Cardinals held a 7-4 lead in the third frame before Stevens countered with five of the next six points to hold a 9-8 edge.  The lead would grow to two points following back-to-back kills by the Ducks, but Fisher found a rhythm and put away three points to reclaim the lead, 12-11.  The momentum would slow, however, as Stevens answered back with a 9-2 run to hold a six-point cushion, 20-14. 

Junior setter Rebecca Hay would set up Steigerwald for a kill, but the Ducks continued to find the seams as they took a 2-1 lead behind a 25-19 score in the third set.

In the fourth and final frame, neither team was able to gain a clear advantage until the Ducks turned a 6-5 deficit into an 10-6 lead courtesy of five unanswered points.  As the set continued, Stevens remained ahead and would build a six-point lead, 20-14, before closing things out with a 5-2 burst.

Steigerwald led all players with 24 kills to go along with 14 digs and an ace while Lauren Gilbert added eight kills of her own and a pair of digs.  DeBonis finished with 11 digs and five kills while Kara Kingsbury dug up 13 balls in all.  Hay paced the Cardinals' attack with 34 assists as the junior also chipped in with eight digs and two service aces.

FISHER 3, CATHOLIC 2

In a battle of the Cardinals, it would be Fisher that got off on the right foot with nine of the match's first 12 points.  The lead would balloon to 10 points following an ace from Hay, but the momentum shifted with Catholic erupting for a 10-1 run to pull to within one, 19-18.  From there, Fisher would extend its advantage back to three points, 24-21, only to see Catholic storm back again after using a 5-0 run to win, 26-24.

Catholic would carry its momentum into the second set to the tune of a 6-1 lead before Fisher found its groove and battled back to tie things up at 10-10.  Both teams traded points over the remainder of the set before head coach Kelly Greapentrog's team broke a 20-20 deadlock with a 5-1 run of its own to level the match at one set apiece.

In the third set, Fisher got off to another hot start and led 11-4 before Catholic strung together five of the next six points to pull to within three, 12-9.  Leading by three points. The lead remained firmly in Fisher's hands throughout the course of the set as it posted a four-point win, 25-21, leading into the fourth frame.

After taking the fourth, 25-19, to force a fifth and deciding set, Catholic was unable to match Fisher's production.  The Cardinals got off to a hot start with Gilbert setting the tone from the get-go with an ace that sparked a 7-2 run.  Catholic would call a timeout to slow Fisher's pace, but the Cardinals continued to hit their stride as back-to-back kills by DeBonis and Steigerwald made it 9-3.  From there, Catholic kept it close, but was never able to mount much of a threat as Steigerwald put down a kill before Sydney French closed out the win with an ace for the 15-10 decision.

The Cardinals will be back in action beginning at 12 p.m. on Saturday when they take on Hunter College in Union, N.J.  The team will also square off with host Kean University at 2 p.m.