PITTSFORD, N.Y. – With fans in the stands for the first time all season, the St. John Fisher College women's volleyball team gave them something to cheer for as the Cardinals overcame a two-set deficit to defeat East Avenue Rival Nazareth College, 3-2, on Friday night in an Empire 8 matchup inside Manning and Napier Varsity Gymnasium on Bobby Wanzer Court.  With the win, Fisher, which is receiving votes in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, remained undefeated at 6-0 on the year and 4-0 in the Empire 8 while the Golden Flyers fell to 1-2 on both fronts.

All-American Alea Steigerwald had a game-high 19 kills to go along with season-best 23 digs while Lindsey DeBonis finished with eight kills and seven digs.  Delayne Young added six kills in five sets to go along with 14 digs and four block assists.  Sydney French was credited with five kills, four digs and a pair of block assists while Rebecca Hay and Katie Leaty handed out 22 and 14 assists, respectively.

After falling in the first two sets, Fisher recovered in the third frame despite a slow start.  The Cardinals fell behind early, but used a four-point run bookended by kills from Young and Steigerwald to surge ahead, 10-7. 

Holding a three-point lead, Fisher saw its advantage slip away with Nazareth scoring four straight points that included three errors by the Cardinals to make it 11-10 in the visitors' favor.  The lead would be short-lived for Nazareth, however, as Fisher regained its composure to the tune of a 7-2 run that forced the Golden Flyers to take a timeout trailing 17-13.

As the set wore on, Nazareth would pull to within three, but Fisher took advantage of four Golden Flyers' errors to pull out a 25-18 win.

In the fourth frame, Nazareth jumped out to a 13-8 lead, but the Cardinals seized the momentum with Hay at the service line as Fisher scored five unanswered points to knot things up at 13-13.
 
From there, the Golden Flyers built a four-point lead to force Fisher into a timeout.  Coming out of the break, the Cardinals scored seven of the next eight points en route to a 25-23 win that forced a fifth and deciding set.

Needing just 15 points to claim the comeback win, Fisher looked sharp early and opened up a 5-2 lead courtesy of a big block at the net by Steigerwald and French.  Nazareth would pull to within one, but a kill from Steigerwald followed by back-to-back aces from Hay staked the home team to an 8-4 cushion.

Leading by four midway through the set, Fisher continued to set the pins with Young and DeBonis each hammering home a kill to make it 11-7.  After two quick points from the Golden Flyers, Fisher scored four of the final five points including a block from Young and Caroline Leva as the Cardinals held on for the five-set win.

The Cardinals are back in action at 7 p.m. on Wednesday when they travel to Houghton to face the Highlanders in an Empire 8 match.