TROY, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College women's volleyball team defeated The Sage Colleges in a straight-sets sweep (25-13, 25-16, 25-17) on Saturday afternoon at the Gators' Kahl Gym. The Cardinals finish the first weekend of Empire 8 conference action with a 2-0 record in league play. Overall, Fisher earns its eighth-straight victory, the longest winning streak for the program since 2009, while their record improves to 11-5 on the year. The Gators drop to 3-14 overall and 0-2 in conference.

Fisher was led on the offensive and defensive end by the freshmen pair of Lauren Gilbert and Alexis Mancha. Gilbert had a game-high 12 kills while Mancha led the Cardinals with 17 digs. Sophomore Alea Steigerwald recorded 11 kills and 15 digs to go with her .345 hitting percentage on the day.

The Cardinals found themselves in an early 6-3 hole in the first set. They responded with five-straight points that were capped off by three consecutive kills from Steigerwald. Fisher never trailed for the rest of the set as it finished off the frame with a four-point streak with sophomore Kara Kingsbury earning set point on a service ace.

The visitors had to play catch up early on once again in the second set but they shifted the momentum with a four-point burst to make it 9-6 in their favor. Sage kept it close until 19-16, however, Fisher went on a six-point run to close out the set. A Kingsbury ace proved to be the deciding point once again.

The third and final set featured runs by both teams in the early portion of the frame. A five-point swing from Fisher put it up 12-7. The Gators clawed their way back to cut the lead, 18-15, but the Cardinals soared with a 7-2 run to earn the win. Junior Rebecca Hay set up freshman Lindsey DeBonis for match point.

Hay led all players with 33 assists. During the eight-game winning streak, the Rochester native has recorded at least 30 helpers in all but one of the matches. Freshman Elly Hepburn had a career-high nine kills.

Next up for the Cardinals is the Battle of the Beaks as they make the short trip over to Nazareth College on Wednesday for an Empire 8 battle at 7 p.m.