PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College men's volleyball team played its first home match in over a month on Friday evening as the Cardinals took down The Sage Colleges in straight sets 25-17, 25-14, 25-12. With the victory Fisher improves to 18-9 overall and 6-2 in the UVC, while the Gators fall to 8-14 overall and 1-7 in the conference.

The Fisher offense got off to a hot start in the opening set as the Cardinals posted 17 total kills, a .500 hitting percentage, and only two errors in the first set victory.

Both sides traded points back-and-forth for the first half of the set, until kills from Matt Broderick and Ivan Lopez, followed by a service ace from Kevin Cahill, pushed the Cardinals ahead by four midway through the set.

As the opening set wore on, the Fisher offense continued its dominance as the Cardinals finished the set with an 8-3 scoring run, led by Josh Bigford who tallied seven early kills.

Fisher opened up the second set much like how the first one ended as the Cardinals quickly took a 11-5 advantage on the scoreboard. Mike Strumpfler rattled off a four-point run from the service line, while Paul Hackford added three early blocks.

From there, the Cardinals continued their steady play as they finished with 12 kills and only seven errors in the second set, led by Bigford with another five kills.

Much like the previous two sets the Fisher offense proved its dominance as the Cardinals opened up the third set with an 18-10 run, which included five service aces.

The Cardinals continued to push forward as Bigford finished off the match with a five-point service run, leading Fisher to its sixth conference victory of the season.

Bigford led the way for the Cardinals with a game-high 16 kills, six digs, and a .714 hitting percentage, while Broderick pitched in another eight kills and six digs. Paul Hackford finished the match with a game-high 37 assists and Ivan Lopez added three blocks.

Fisher will return to action tomorrow at 1 p.m. when they welcome Vassar to Bobby Wanzer Court and then follow with a non-conference matchup with Daemen College at 5 p.m. The team will also be celebrating Senior Day and the careers of Strumpfler, Cahill, and Quinn Magiera.