ELMIRA, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College men's volleyball team won its 14th match of the 2019 season on Wednesday night as the Cardinals defeated Elmira in conference action in four sets 22-25, 25-18, 25-20, 25-23. With the victory, Fisher improves to 14-4 overall and 3-1 in the UVC while the Soaring Eagles fall to 8-11 overall and 1-4 in the conference.

After No. 2 Stevens snapped its 12-match winning streak on Sunday afternoon, Fisher put on an offensive display versus Elmira totaling 47 kills and nine serving aces throughout the four-set match.

Despite falling in the first set, Fisher rallied and was able to tie the match back up at one set apiece. The Cardinals earned an early 13-6 advantage in the second set as the offense tallied seven quick kills, while Martin Hackford notched two service aces.

As the second set wore on, Elmira was able to cut the Fisher lead to three points, however the Cardinals remained steady and a kill from Ivan Lopez sealed the second set victory.

As the third set got underway, it was the Soaring Eagles this time able to jump out to an early 12-10 lead. However from there, Martin Hackford served-up another service ace to lead the Cardinals on a 9-3 scoring-run.

Fisher did not look back from there as the Cardinals remained dominant from the service line and Martin Hackford tallied his fourth service ace of the match on set-point.

Both sides battled back-and-forth as the fourth set began, eventually leading to an 8-8 deadlock on the scoreboard. From there, Elmira pushed ahead with a four-point scoring run but that was quickly answered by a Fisher 6-0 scoring run.

Leading two sets to one, the Cardinals were able to hold control from there as the offence continued to click and a kill from Andres Ramirez sealed the conference victory.

Matt Broderick and Mike Strumpfler led Fisher offense with 11 kills apiece, while Ramirez added 10 kills and Josh Bigford added another nine. Paul Hackford notched 32 assists and David Cerqua led the way defensively with nine digs.

The Cardinals return to the court on Friday at 5 p.m. when they travel to Bard College for another United Volleyball Conference matchup.