PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College men's volleyball team picked up a pair of straight-set victories to close out the Cardinal Classic on Saturday. The Cardinals defeated Johnson & Wales University (25-17, 25-12, 30-28) and then Elmira College (25-18, 25-14, 25-21) to move to 2-1 on the year. 
 
Josh Bigford led all players in kills in both matches with 15 and 11 respectively. David Cerqua had game-highs of 15 digs and then eight digs versus the Soaring Eagles. The Cardinals went 2-1 in the tournament finishing behind No. 11 Wells who went a perfect 3-0. 
 
St. John Fisher 3, Johnson & Wales 0
 
The Cardinals had a strong start to the day with hitting .333 in the opening set. After going back and forth at 14-13, Fisher went on a 4-0 run to take a 17-14 edge. The Wildcats would take two points before the Cardinals soared to a seven-point lead with six straight points won. Martin Hackford was on serve and earned back-to-back aces to cap off the run. A Bigford kill gave Fisher set point and then Ivan Lopez smacked home a ball set up by Paul Hackford to win the opening frame. 
 
Fisher never trailed in the second stanza. On Bigford's serve the Cardinals won four points in a row to go up 11-5. A long 8-0 run on Matt Beiter's serve including three aces from the freshman put the set out of reach with the score at 22-7. Fisher was able to close the second set out and go up 2-0 in the match. 
 
Johnson & Wales made the Cardinals earn the match win in a competitive third set. The Cardinals went up by as many as six points at 16-10 after a service ace by Beiter, however, the Wildcats would claw their way back and eventually tie things up at 24-all. Fisher would continue to make it match point but Johnson & Wales would answer to keep the matching going until at 29-28, Paul Hackford set up Bigford for the kill to clinch the Cardinals' first victory of the season. 
 
Beiter had a game-high six aces for Fisher. Paul Hackford would lead the way in the assists category with 32 in the match. Both teams ended up with 39 digs each. 
 
St. John Fisher 3, Elmira 0 
 
Fisher stellar offense was on full display in first set as they hit .474 in the set. Multiple 5-0 runs put the Cardinals in the driver's seat up 10-3 early on. Fisher would stay in control for the rest of the frame with Matt Broderick recording back-to-back kills to earn the set victory. 
 
The Cardinals matched their first set hitting percentage in the second set with another .474. With the score tied at six, Fisher reeled off six points in a row to take a 12-6 advantage. Bigford was in control through the middle stages with three kills all assisted by Dylan Urbanski. A Martin Hackford kill made it 22-14 in favor the home squad and Broderick hit a pair of aces to send the match to the third with Fisher up by two. 
 
Elmira would not go down quietly though as they went out in front, 15-10, however the Cardinals responded with an important three-point stretch that included a kill from both Lopez and Broderick. After the Soaring Eagles won a point to go up, 21-18, Bigford snatched a kill to put the Cicero native on serve for the Cardinals. Fisher would win the next six points that included a pair of aces and then the match-winning kill from the sophomore to give the Cardinals their second straight-sets win on the day. 
 
Urbanski earned a game-high 22 assists in the match. Eric Bentivegna pulled down a game-high four blocks for the Cardinals. Fisher hit .329 as team for the match, their highest hitting percentage in a match during the season-opening tournament. 
 
The Cardinals now prepare for their first road trip, at SUNY Poly next weekend. Fisher opens up play at the Wildcat Invitational against Alvernia University on Friday at 4 p.m.