PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College men's volleyball team took home two victories on Friday evening inside Manning and Napier Varsity Gymnasium to kick off the Fisher Invite. The Cardinals defeated Medaille College in straight sets to open up the night 25-21, 25-22, 25-20 and then followed with a five-set thrilling victory over SUNY Poly 25-20, 16-25, 27-25, 25-27, 15-10.
With the wins, Fisher improves to 4-3 overall on the season, while the Mavericks fall to 0-1 and the Wildcats fall to 3-4 overall in 2019.
Fisher got off to a hot start against Medaille, able to hit a combined .364 in the first set. The Cardinals continued to ride the momentum throughout the first set, as
Josh Bigford was able to lead the way with seven early kills.
Once again, Fisher was able to get off to a quick start in the second set, jumping out to a 9-3 lead off of a four-point scoring run led by
Brandon Cox-Bagley at the service line. As the second set wore on, both sides traded points back-and-forth until eventually a kill from Bigford and a solo block from
Mike Strumpfler gave the Cardinals a two sets to none advantage.
In the third set, it was the Fisher offence proving to be the difference as the Cardinals finished with 11 kills as a team to finish off the Mavericks in straight sets. The freshman Bigford led the way in the first match of the night, finishing with a game-high 12 kills to go along with a .409 hitting percentage. Fellow freshman
Ivan Lopez added eight kills, while freshman
Dylan Urbanski notched 30 assists in the match.
Versus SUNY Poly, the Fisher offense would keep its hot-streak going as the Cardinals were able to hit a whopping 13 kills with a .417 hitting percentage in the opening set. An early six-point scoring run with
Kevin Cahill at the service line pushed Fisher ahead 6-2.
As the sides continued to battle back-and-forth, in the end it was the Cardinals able to hold off the Wildcats' late comeback bid with a final kill from
Matt Broderick.
In the second set, it was the SUNY Poly's offense turn as the Wildcats as a team hit a combined .448 with 17 kills and only four errors, tying the match back up at one set apiece.
The Cardinals however were able to battle back in the third set, as a string of three-point scoring runs pushed them ahead 24-21 late in the set. However after a SUNY Poly timeout, the Wildcats fought back to tie the set back up at 25-25. From there, another kill from Broderick and a SUNY Poly attacking error put the home side back up two sets to one heading into the fourth set.
Much like the second set, Fisher struggled to get its offense into a rhythm as the Wildcats took advantage of seven hitting errors on the Fisher side to force a deciding fifth set on Bobby Wanzer Court.
As the fifth set got going, it was the visiting Wildcats to grab the early momentum jumping out to a quick 8-4 lead as the team's switched sides. However from there, Fisher rattled off six-straight points with the help from Bigford at the serving line, taking a 10-8 lead.
From there, the Cardinals would score five of the next seven points with a
Paul Hackford kill finishing off the Wildcats in an action packed fifth set.
In the five set affair, it was Bigford again leading the offense this time with 18 kills and 10 digs, while Broderick pitched in 14 kills and 13 digs.
David Cerqua posted a team-high 14 digs from the libero spot and
Paul Hackford added 29 assists.
Fisher is back in action tomorrow at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Bobby Wanzer Court for two more matches as part of the Fisher Invite as the Cardinals host Penn State Behrend followed by Thiel College.
