THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The St. John Fisher College men's volleyball team dropped its two matches on Friday evening at the Cal-Lu-Fornia Classic hosted by California Lutheran. In its first match, Fisher was defeated in four sets by Johnson & Wales University, followed by Rivier University also in four sets. With the non-conference losses, the Cardinals now hold a 16-7 overall record.

Josh Bigford tallied a career-high 24 kills in the loss to Johnson & Wales as the freshman finished with a .365 hitting percentage and five digs. All four sets were very tightly contested as the Wildcats took home the victory 23-25, 25-23, 21-2, 28-30.

After falling in the first set, Matt Broderick started off the second set with a 4-0 scoring run from the service line. As the second set wore on, Fisher continued to hold a steady lead as kills from Bigford and Andres Ramirez pushed them ahead 13-9.

The Wildcats were able to cut the Cardinal lead to one with the help of a four-point scoring run of their own. However, with 14 total kills in the second set, Fisher was able to hold on and tie the match back up at one set-apiece. 

Back-and-forth action got the third set underway until eventually a kill from Bigford tied the set up at 14-14. However, Johnson & Wales would then put together a 9-3 scoring run, leading them to the third set victory.

The back-and-fourth action carried its way into the fourth set as both sides would trade points for the majority of the set. Despite an early 7-0 scoring run led by Ramirez at the service line, the Cardinals were unable to force a deciding fifth and final set.

As a team, the Cardinals finished the four set match with 54 total kills and 49 digs. David Cerqua led the way for Fisher defensively as the sophomore notched a game-high 18 digs, while Paul Hackford finished with a game high 41 assists to go along with five kills and four blocks.

Versus Rivier, the Cardinals also fell in a competitive four set affair this time after winning the first set 25-17, 19-25, 22-25, 20-25.

The Cardinal offense started off strong in the opening set, posting 13 kills and a .409 hitting percentage. Fisher opened up the first set with a 17-4 scoring run, led by both Bigford and Paul Hackford at the service line.

From there, Fisher did not look back as kills from Kevin Cahill and Mike Strumpfler finished off the Raiders in the first set.

As for the second set, Rivier took an early lead and would end up carry its lead through the remainder of the second set to tie the match back up at one set apiece.

Back-and-forth action started off the third set as back-to-back kills from Cahill and Ivan Lopez tied the set up at 13-13 midway through. From there, it was Rivier able to hold the momentum as the Raiders finished off the third set with 19 total kills and only two errors.

Fisher struggled to keep its offense going in the fourth, but continued to battle as a kill from Martin Hackford brought the Cardinals to within two points midway through the set.

However, it was Rivier able to hold on in the end and take the hard-earned four set victory.

Bigford once again led the way offensively as the freshman tallied 11 kills, while Cahill added a season-high 10 kills and two digs. Lopez finished with a game-high four blocks and Cerqua posted another team-high 10 digs.

Fisher returns to action tomorrow at 3 p.m. for its fourth and final match in California as it takes on Emmanuel College to finish out the Cal-Lu-Fornia Classic.