BUFFALO, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College women's volleyball team earned a pair of wins at the Buffalo State Bengal Invite on Saturday. The Cardinals started their day with a 3-1 (21-25, 25-10, 25-4, 25-8) victory against Cazenovia College and then swept Medaille College (25-11, 25-18, 25-22).

Fisher finished atop of the tournament standings with a 3-0 record on the weekend. The Cardinals are now over .500 for the first time this season with a 6-5 overall record. Junior Rebecca Hay was named to All-Tournament team.

FISHER 3, CAZENOVIA 1
The Cardinals got off to an early 4-1 lead thanks to three service aces by junior Molly Taylor. The Wildcats would square things up and take a slight lead. Fisher kept it close but would fall by four points in the opening set.

Fisher took control of the match at the beginning of the second set with a 9-1 run led by freshman Lindsey DeBonis earning two kills during the streak. It was a set of runs the rest of the way with the Cardinal earning the set on a 4-0 run. Sophomore Alea Steigerwald closed it out with back-to-back service aces.

After a close start to the third set, Fisher went on a 6-0 run led by three kills from freshman Caroline Leva to take a 11-4 advantage. After the Wildcats ended that run with a point, the Cardinals went on a tear to win the next 14 points and take a dominating 25-4 set victory.

After playing from behind early in the fourth set, Fisher got hot again with a 6-0 run to take a 10-6 edge. They followed up a Wildcat point with a 13 point streak to put them two points away from the match win.
A Steigerwald ace sealed the deal to give the Cardinals the victory.

Steigerwald led all players in kills and digs with 12 and 16 respectively. Hay had a game-high 30 assists.

FISHER 3, MEDAILLE 0
The Cardinals kept their momentum from the Cazenovia match alive with getting off to a 9-3 start in the first set. They then pushed the deficit to double-digits and clinched the opening frame on a 3-0 streak. Steigerwald finished it off with back-to-back kills.

Hay earned the opening point of the second set with an ace. After Fisher broke a 2-2 tie, they would the lead the rest of the way using multiple three-point streaks to put themselves in the driver's seat with a 2-0 advantage in sets.


The Mavericks looked to take momentum with an early 2-0 lead in the third set but the Cardinals followed it up with a six-point run. Medaille kept it close with the score at 19-17 in favor of Fisher. A 4-0 run was the difference maker with sophomore Kara Kinsbury knocking down two aces during the run. Taylor set up Steigerwald for the kill and the match win.

Steigerwald led all players in the match with 15 kills. Hay had a game-high 18 assists. Freshman Alexis Mancha added a game-high 13 digs.

Fisher now prepares for its home tournament next weekend. The Cardinals will host Wells College at 6 p.m. on Friday at Manning and Napier Varsity Gym.