UNION, N.J. – The St. John Fisher College women's volleyball team played in a pair of games Saturday at the North Jersey Challenge hosted by Kean University. The Cardinals took down Hunter College in straight-sets before falling in straight-sets to the host Cougars. The split puts the Cardinals record at 18-8 on the year.
FISHER 3, HUNTER 0
The offense was firing on all cylinders for the Cardinals to start the match as they hit .324 with 14 kills and two errors in the opening set. It was a tight one until at 21-21, Fisher won three straight points to give them set point. A service error sealed the deal to put the Cardinals up one set to none.
Fisher never trailed in the second set. The Hawks would not go away quietly as they kept coming back, however, the Cardinals continued to win big points to stay in control. A kill by freshman
Caroline Leva earned Fisher the set and put them one away from the win.
The momentum stayed in Fisher's favor heading into the third. Sophomore
Alea Steigerwald contributed four kills down the stretch as the Cardinals held off the Hawks. An attack error by Hunter handed Fisher the match.
Steigerwald led the way with a game-high 14 kills while sophomore
Katie Leaty led all players with 30 assists. Sophomore
Julia Halsey recorded a team-high 14 digs.
KEAN 3, FISHER 0
The opening set was a back and forth affair with the game reaching a 24-24 tie on a kill by freshman
Lindsey DeBonis. The Cougar would take the next two points though to go up 1-0.
Kean took an early edge and held onto it the rest of the second. The Cardinals strung together four-straight points with Steigerwald earning back-to-back aces but they would ultimately come short and fall for the second set in a row.
A 7-0 run with junior
Rebecca Hay serving helped Fisher surge out to a 9-3 advantage in the third set. A 5-0 run later put the Cardinals up 17-9. But the Cougars would come back to take the lead late. A pair of DeBonis kills kept Fisher in the match but Kean would finish it off to earn the win.
Steigerwald once again led in kills with 13 this time. The Penfield native also had team-high 14 digs while being named to the All-Tournament team. Hay ended up earning a team-high 26 assists while tying a season-high four service aces in the match.
The Cardinals wrap up Empire 8 play next weekend. They host Elmira at 5 p.m. on Friday. A win over the Soaring Eagles would secure Fisher's spot as the top seed in the conference postseason tournament.
