CALDWELL, N.J. – The St. John Fisher College men's volleyball team came out victorious in its first playoff match in its two-year history on Friday night as the Cardinals took down Vassar in the first round of the UVC tournament in four sets. With the win, Fisher improves to 21-12 overall on the season, while the Brewers wrap up their 2019 campaign at 14-15 overall.
 
Fisher defeated Vassar in a hard-fought four sets 25-19, 20-25, 25-23, 25 21 to move onto tomorrow's semi-final matchup with the second-seeded New Paltz College Hawks at 5 p.m.
 
Both sides finished the four set match with 47 kills apiece, while the Cardinals topped the Brewers with 47 digs and an average hitting percentage of .254.
 
As the first set got underway, both teams started out the match trading points back-and-forth until an eventual 9-9 tie on the scoreboard. From there, both sides would trade three-point runs, until a Paul Hackford service ace tied the opening set at 17 apiece.
 
It was there when the UVC Rookie of the Year, Josh Bigford stepped to the service line and racked-up a six-point scoring run to put Fisher ahead 22-17.  
 
The Cardinals would eventually close out the first set as Mike Strumpfler put away the final kill to give Fisher a one set to none advantage.
 
Vassar would work its way back and earn the second set victory as the Brewers tallied 14 kills with only four errors, while the Cardinals just fell short with 11 kills and four errors.
 
Fisher would work its way back in the third set as early kills from Matt Broderick and Bigford would lead the Cardinals to an early 8-4 lead. The Brewers were once again able to fight their way back into the match with an 8-3 scoring run, taking a 12-11 advantage.
 
Both teams would continue to trade points as the third set wore on, until the Brewers were able to jump ahead 23-21 after back-to-back Cardinal attacking errors.
 
Trailing by two late in the set, Fisher rattled off the next four points to take the third set victory as Bigford notched three kills in row to give the Cardinals a two sets to one advantage.
 
With the one set advantage, Fisher jumped ahead in the fourth set 9-7, with the help of two kills from Strumpfler and Kevin Cahill.
 
Much like the previous two sets, both teams would trade points back-and-forth for the majority of the fourth set until the scoreboard was knotted-up at 20-20.
 
In the end, Fisher was able to earn the late momentum as three kills from Bigford and a kill from Cahill capped off the fourth set and earned the men's volleyball program its first postseason victory in its two-year history.
 
Bigford would lead the Cardinal offensive in the First Round with 16 kills and six digs, while Strumpfler added 15 kills and three blocks. David Cerqua led the Fisher defense as the sophomore notched 11 digs.
 
Ivan Lopez finished with a game-high five blocks and Paul Hackford finished with a 39 total assists.
 
Fisher returns to the court tomorrow at 5 p.m. when it takes on the second-seeded New Paltz for a chance to play in the United Volleyball Conference championship game on Sunday afternoon.