ERIE, PA. – The St. John Fisher College men's volleyball team extended its winning streak to eight matches on Saturday afternoon as the Cardinals defeated Adrian College in four sets, followed by Penn State Behrend in straight sets. With the pair of victories, Fisher improves its record to 9-3 overall on the season, while the Bulldogs fall to 5-5 and the Lions move to 4-4 overall in 2019.
The Fisher offense was able to find its groove in its first match of the day, taking down Adrian in four sets 25-16, 25-23, 18-25, 25-12 with 49 total kills in the match.
The Cardinals got going quickly in the first set, using a pair of three-point scoring runs to jump ahead 17-12 on the scoreboard. As the first set wore on, Fisher was able to hold on to its comfortable advantage, as
Matt Broderick sealed the first set victory with a late four-point serving run. In the first set alone, Fisher finished with a .419 hitting percentage which included 16 kills and only three errors.
Similar to the first set, Fisher was able to use an early 6-0 scoring run to jump out to an early 12-7 lead over the Bulldogs. Following a kill from
Kevin Cahill, Adrian was able to claw its way back with two three-point scoring runs of its own, eventually tying the set up at 21-21.
From there, both sides traded points back-and-forth until a kill from
Ivan Lopez, followed by a block from the tandem of Lopez and
Paul Hackford sealed the second set victory.
Down two sets to none, Adrian was able to earn the third set win as the Bulldogs used an early six-point scoring run to grab the early momentum.
However in the fourth set, it was all Fisher from the start as the Cardinals finished off the Bulldogs with a combined 12 kills and a .409 hitting percentage as a team. Broderick and
Josh Bigford both powered Fisher from the service line with four-point serving runs individually.
Sophomore
Avery Terroso led the Cardinal offense in their first win of the day, finishing with eight kills and five digs, while Broderick and
Mike Strumpfler each added six kills apiece.
Lopez currently leads the United Volleyball Conference in total blocks and would add six to that total in the victory to go along with seven kills.
Tyler Richards finished with a team-leading 12 digs, while
Paul Hackford notched a game-high 32 assists.
In the Cardinals second match of the day, the offense continued to remain consistent throughout and helped guide Fisher to its eighth consecutive victory.
Fisher jumped out to a quick 16-9 lead over Penn State Behrend in the first set, as Bigford and
Andres Ramirez each tallied two early kills apiece. From there, the Lions fought back to within two points off of a six to nothing scoring run of its own.
However, the Cardinals remained calm and rallied behind two kills from Ramirez for the first set win.
The second set got underway with back-and-forth action leading to an 8-8 tie in the scoreboard early in the set. However, Broderick once again found success at the service line as the junior led the Cardinals on an 8-0 run and to a 16-8 lead.
Fisher did not look back from there, as a block from Broderick and kills from Strumpfler and Ramierz capped off the second set victory over the Lions.
Much like the second set, both sides traded points until eventually Fisher took control with another scoring run midway through the set. Despite a late comeback bid from Behrend, another two kills from Ramirez sealed the straight set win and eighth straight for the Cardinals.
The freshman Ramirez led the way with a career-high 12 kills and a .500 hitting percentage, while Bigford pitched in nine more kills.
Paul Hackford once again handled the setting duties, finishing with 30 assists and six kills.
David Cerqua posted a team-high 11 digs and Lopez added another four blocks versus the Lions.
The Cardinals are back in action on Sunday, February 17th, at 12 p.m. when they travel to Buffalo to take on D'Youville College followed by Medaille College at 2 p.m.
