PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College men's volleyball team had it's 12 match winning streak snapped on Sunday morning as the Cardinals fell to No. 2 Stevens in straight sets 15-25, 19-25, 19-25 on Bobby Wanzer Court. With its first loss since January 26th, Fisher falls to 13-4 overall and 2-1 in the conference, while the Ducks improve to 13-1 overall and 4-0 in the UVC.
Over the course of the 12 match winning streak the Cardinals only dropped eight sets, while winning seven of the matches in straight sets including a win over Nazareth.
As a team, the Cardinals totaled 36 kills in the three set match with an average .209 hitting percentage, while Stevens finished the match with 44 kills and an average hitting percentage of .487.
In the first set, Stevens was able to take advantage of two separate four-point scoring runs in its opening set victory. Five Cardinals posted two kills in the first set including
Eric Bentivenga,
Josh Bigford,
Matt Broderick,
Andres Ramirez, and
Mike Strumpfler.
As the second set got underway, both teams would trade points back-and-forth until a kill from Bentivenga out of the middle, gave Fisher a 12-11 advantage.
However from there, Stevens went on to serve-up a six-point scoring run and pushed its lead to 17-12. The Cardinals were able to fight back to within two points, but the Duck's offense continued its strong play in route to its second set victory.
Much like the second set, Fisher was able to grab an early lead with the help of a 5-0 scoring run with
Paul Hackford at the service line. As the set wore on, both sides continued to battle eventually leading to a 17-17 deadlock.
A kill from Ramirez pushed Fisher ahead 18-17, however Stevens was able to rally and score eight of the games' next nine points to take the match in straight sets.
Broderick led the way offensively as the junior posted a game-high 11 kills with a .409 hitting percentage, while Strumpfler added 10 kills and a .571 hitting percentage.
Paul Hackford posted 33 assists to go along with four digs and two service aces. Defensively,
David Cerqua once again led the Cardinals from the libero spot with a five digs.
Fisher returns to action on Wednesday at 7 p.m. when it travels to Elmira for another United Volleyball Conference matchup.
