ELMIRA, N.Y. – The No. 6 St. John Fisher College men's volleyball team added another UVC win to their 2021 resume after downing Elmira College at Speidel Gymnasium in four sets, 3-1 (25-19, 17-25, 25-22, 25-21). The Cardinals' overall record improves to 6-3 and 4-1 in the conference, while the Soaring Eagles fell to 0-13 and 0-6, respectively.
 
Fisher was led by senior middle blocker Eric Bentivegna who had 11 kills on .786 hitting. Josh Bigford matched Bentivegna's kill total with 11 along with assisting on two blocks. Matt Beiter had seven kills of his own and showed off his defensive skillset by tying libero David Cerqua for most Fisher digs with 12. Ivan Lopez had a game-high five blocks, and tallied six kills and two service aces to the affair while setter Dylan Urbanski dished out 40 assists.
 
Fisher went up four early points in the first set and did not look back. Despite letting the Soaring Eagles bring the score within reach, four straight kills and a Lopez and Bigford block gave the Cardinals a 6-point advantage at 20-12. Elmira battled back to bring the set to within three points, but back-to-back kills from Avery Terroso and Urbanski set up the same pair to close the first set with a block at the net.
 
Despite falling short in the second stanza, the Cardinals brought a stronger effort in the following set. Going blow for blow, Fisher finally gained an edge after a Beiter kill turned into three more points, pushing the Fisher lead to 12-7. Elmira came to within one point of the Cardinals as they were looking to put away the set, but three kills from Bentivegna and an Elmira attacking error sent Fisher to the fourth set with a 25-22 victory.
 
The teams exchanged shots for the first half of the final set, until two Elmira errors and consecutive Bigford kills put the Cardinals up, 16-12. Elmira battled back to even the score at 20, but Fisher scored four straight points fueled by a Bigford kill and Beiter notched the game-winning kill to close the contest for good.
 
The nationally-ranked Cardinals will host Nazareth for the pairing's third match of the season on Tuesday, March 30 for a 7 P.M. start as Fisher will honor its senior class before the UVC scuffle.