ELMIRA, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College women's volleyball team enhanced their unblemished 2021 season record in an Empire 8 tilt inside the Speidel Gymnasium in which the Cardinals overpowered the host Elmira College Soaring Eagles in straight sets, 3-0 (25-17, 25-23, 25-10). Fisher moves to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the conference while the Soaring Eagles drop their first match of the season and evens their record to 1-1.
 
Alea Steigerwald, who recently surpassed the milestone of 1,000 career kills, added 11 more kills to her résumé, along with six digs and two service aces. Her opposite side hitter, Lindsey DeBonis, had 10 kills, six digs, and a service ace of her own, while newcomer Gracie Jacob chipped in eight kills on .357 hitting. Rebecca Hay had a game-high 22 assists in the three-set match, while libero Julia Halsey anchored the Fisher defense with 11 digs.
 
Fisher opened up the first set by scoring eight of the set's first nine points with kills from Steigerwald and DeBonis. Soon after, back-to-back kills from Steigerwald and Jacob set up Steigerwald for a pair of Cardinals points and put the visitors ahead, 13-5.
 
The Soaring Eagles pushed back, but points from DeBonis and Kara Balmer ignited the Cardinals on a 7-2 scoring run to extend the Fisher lead to 11. Elmira then won four straight points, but Steigerwald and Jacob were both assisted by Hay to put the first set away, 25-17 in favor of Fisher.
 
Elmira contested Fisher tightly in the second set, as the teams exchanged points until the Soaring Eagles took a 14-11 advantage. The Fisher offense stormed back, evening the score at 17 points apiece, following kills from its outside hitters and two free points at the service line.
 
The visitors turned on the jets with a Jacob kill, two straight Halsey service aces, and a block from Balmer and Hay to force the Soaring Eagles into a 21-17 deficit. Elmira recovered six points, but not before Hay caught the Elmira defense off guard with her one and only kill of the night which closed the second stanza at 25-23.
 
Fisher built a six-point lead early in the third set at 14-8, but nine straight Cardinals points proved unattainable to match. Steigerwald and DeBonis capped off the night by sending their final kills home and the Cardinals took the third set, 25-10.
 
The Cardinals will be back in action on Sunday, March 28 when they travel to Alfred University for an Empire 8 doubleheader with the Saxons, slated for 2 P.M. and 4 P.M.