HENRIETTA, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College women's volleyball team had its 13-match winning streak snapped on Friday inside Clark Memorial Gymnasium as the Cardinals fell to Rochester Institute of Technology, 3-2, in a pairing that will have implications in the upcoming NCAA regional rankings.  With the loss, Fisher dropped to 16-4 while the Tigers improved to 18-2 following their five-set victory.

Alea Steigerwald finished with a season-high 19 kills to go along with six digs while Lindsey DeBonis added 17 kills, 15 digs and a pair of blocks.  Delayne Young notched 10 kills and 10 digs while Sydney French contributed six kills and two blocks over five sets.  Katie Leaty handed out 53 helpers and had 11 digs while Julia Halsey was credited with 15 digs.  
After swapping the first two sets, the Cardinals and Tigers traded points in the third frame until RIT used an 8-1 run to open up a 12-6 advantage. 

Facing a six-point spread, Fisher began to chip away and forced the Tigers into a timeout after rattling off six unanswered points with Kara Kingsbury at the service line to draw even at 17-17.  From there, both teams traded points down the stretch with back-to-back kills by DeBonis and Young resulting in a 23-21 lead for the visitors.  The Tigers would pull to within one as the set wore on, but Young hammered home another kill to give Fisher a 25-23 win heading to the fourth set.

As the fourth set got underway, neither team was able to sustain its lead as both offenses scored points in bunches.  After overcoming a two-point deficit with a four-point burst, RIT found itself on the receiving end of a three-point surge from the Cardinals that staked the visitors to an 18-17 lead.  The Cardinals were eventually forced to call a timeout with RIT having jumped ahead by two, but the break did little to slow the Tigers who leveled the match at two sets apiece with a 25-23 win.

The home team carried its momentum over into the fifth set and jumped out to a 9-3 lead and never looked back.  The Cardinals would pull to within two, 12-10, but Fisher was never able to regain the lead as RIT won the match behind a 15-11 showing.

The Cardinals have a quick turnaround as they're scheduled to play two in Schenectady on Saturday.  Fisher will battle Plattsburgh at 2 p.m. before taking on host Union College at 4 p.m.