PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College men's volleyball team was upended in its season debut on Saturday as the No. 8 Cardinals fell to Division II Daemen College in five sets (25-22, 15-25, 17-25, 29-27, 8-15) inside Manning and Napier Varsity Gymnasium on Bobby Wanzer Court.  With the loss, Fisher moved to 0-1 while the Wildcats ended the afternoon unbeaten at 4-0.

All-American Josh Bigford led the way for Fisher with 11 kills to go along with six digs and three blocks while Ivan Lopez collected seven kills after hitting to the tune of .462 overall.  Lopez was also a presence at the net with four blocks.  Eric Bentivegna had seven kills and led the team with seven blocks while Paul Hackford was the driving force behind Fisher's offense with 34 assists. Senior libero David Cerqua was credited with six digs in the match. 

It was back-and-forth from the get-go in the opening set as the lead changed hands eight times with Daemen eventually taking a 14-12 lead after three straight points that forced the Cardinals to take a timeout to regroup.

As the opening set wore on, Fisher found itself in a two-point hole, 18-16, with Daemen at the service line. Undaunted, Fisher responded in a big way when freshman Jake Baker hammered home a set from Hackford to spark a 4-1 run that made it 20-19 in the Cardinals' favor.

From there, a block at the net by Bigford and Lopez followed by a Daemen error and an ace from Hackford gave Fisher set point, 24-21. The Wildcats were able to earn a side-out, but Fisher shut the door on the frame in signature fashion with Lopez teaming up with Hackford at the net for one of the Cardinals' four first set blocks.  

After falling in both the second and third sets, Fisher found its stride in the fourth and jumped out to early 7-2 advantage. The lead would grow to as many as eight points following a back-to-back attack errors by Daemen, but the Wildcats scratched their way back into contention with two separate 4-0 runs that allowed them to reclaim the lead, 22-21.

With the score knotted at 25-25, Daemen would have a chance to put the match away on two occasions, but the Cardinals regained control and scored three consecutive points with Dylan Urbanski at the service line to level the match at two sets apiece.

In the fifth and deciding set, Daemen got off to a hot start and opened up a 4-1 lead. Fisher would pull to within two points following a Wildcat service error, but the visitors continued to attack the net and rattled off six of the final seven points in the set to earn the hard-fought win.

The Cardinals will look to even their season record at 7 p.m. on Wednesday when they venture down East Avenue to take on rival Nazareth College in the team's United Volleyball Conference debut.