PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College men's volleyball team defeated the University of California, Santa Cruz in straight-sets (25-19, 25-18, 25-22) Friday evening on the Bobby Wanzer Court at Manning and Napier Varsity Gym. 
 
The win was Fisher's ninth-straight while its record improves to 9-1. UC Santa Cruz, last year's National Runner Up, falls to 8-9 on the year. This was only the second meeting between the two programs with the Cardinals avenging a five-set loss to the Banana Slugs in 2019. 
 
Josh Bigford continued his stellar sophomore season with a game-high 14 kills to go along with seven digs, the most the sophomore has earned in the three-set match this year. The Cicero native hit .448 while only recording one attack error the entire match. 
 
The Hackford brothers stepped up to the plate for Fisher tonight. Paul Hackford produced a game-high 37 assists to move to only five away from 2,000 career helpers. Martin Hackford had a solid night on the court with nine kills, two service aces and a game-high eight digs. 
 
The Cardinals led for a majority of the first set until UC Santa Cruz took its first lead at 13-12 leading to a timeout called by Associate Head Coach Stephen England. Fisher came out of the timeout and won three points in a row capped off by an ace from Matt Broderick. A 4-0 run pushed the advantage to 23-17 and the Cardinals would go onto lock up the opening frame.
 
After making a strong statement to start the match. Fisher flew ahead in the second set to a 6-0 lead with Broderick racking up three kills during the run. The Banana Slugs had to play catch up the rest of the stanza as the Cardinals kept their foot on the gas pedal. Paul Hackford set up Martin Hackford for the set-winning point to make it a two-sets-to-none match. 
 
Bigford took over in the third set as the sophomore registered seven kills in the final set. UC Santa Cruz led the entire third set until Bigford slammed a kill home to go up 16-15. Following three-straight points won by the Banana Slugs, the Cardinals answered with three points of their own with Bigford earning back-to-back kills. 
 
The game was tied at 22-all when Fisher finished off their opponent with three consecutive points. Paul Hackford set up Eric Bentivegna for the first point, then Martin Hackford buried an ace to make it match point. Finally, Paul Hackford put one on a tee for Bigford and this week's E8 Player of the Week sent it past the Banana Slugs to win the match. 
 
As a team, the Cardinals hit .301, their third-highest hitting percentage in a match this season. Ivan Lopez had a game-high four blocks on the night. Broderick filled up the stat sheet with eight kills, seven digs and three total blocks. 
 
Fisher continues its weekend invitational on Saturday with a pair of matches against non-conference opponents. The Cardinals square off with Thiel College at 1 p.m. before they go head-to-head with Geneva College at 3 p.m. Fisher was scheduled to play conference opponent Bard College on Friday but that was cancelled due to winter weather conditions.