ONEONTA, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College women's volleyball team remained atop the Empire 8 standings on Friday after holding off Hartwick College in a five-set thriller inside Lambros Arena.  With the win, Fisher, which has now won its last seven matches, improved to 10-3 on the year and 2-0 in the league while the Hawks closed out the evening at 8-2, 0-1, respectively.

It was a back-and-forth affair from the get-go with both teams swapping sets to set up a winner-take-all showdown in the fifth and deciding frame.

The Cardinals got off to a quick start with five of the first seven points including three straight kills from sophomore Gracie Jacob.  Trailing 5-2, Hartwick would cut the gap to two points, 9-7, but the Cardinals regained the momentum and rattled off four straight points including back-to-back blocks at the net to forge ahead, 13-7.

With the set nearly in hand, Fisher's hold began to wane as Hartwick answered with four consecutive points of its own to climb to within 13-11, but Fisher regained its composure with Lindsey DeBonis and Jacob each hammering home a kill to seal the win.

Jacob had a career night after producing 21 kills and seven digs in the win.  Alea Steigerwald added 16 kills and 14 digs of her own while DeBonis finished with a double-double including 15 kills and a career-best 25 digs.  Julia Halsey added 23 digs at the libero position while Katie Leaty handed out a career-high 53 helpers in all.

As a team, Fisher accounted for a season-high 63 kills and had 94 digs defensively. 

The Cardinals will look to make it eight wins in a row at 2 p.m. on Saturday when they travel to Russell Sage to take on the Gators in an Empire 8 pairing in Troy.