TROY, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College women's volleyball team improved its winning streak to eight matches on Saturday after the Cardinals swept Russell Sage, 3-0, in an Empire 8 matchup inside Kahl Gymnasium.  With the win, Fisher, which sits atop the Empire 8 standings, climbed to 11-3 overall and 3-0 in league play while the Gators fell to 4-11 on the year and 0-2 against conference competition.

Lindsey DeBonis finished the match with 12 kills to go along with four digs and two aces while Alea Steigerwald added eight kills, six digs and four aces of her own.  Sydney French chipped in with seven kills and two blocks while Gracie Jacob contributed six kills over three sets.  Katie Leaty handed out 34 assists in the win and had 10 digs while Julia Halsey also had 10 digs overall for head coach Kelly Greapentrog's squad.

After winning the first and second sets by an identical 25-16 score, the Cardinals looked to put the match on ice in the third frame and jumped out to an early 10-3 lead courtesy of a 6-1 run.

Holding a seven-point advantage, Fisher's pace cooled as the Gators found their stride with five of the next six points to pull to within three, 12-9.  From there, Sage would cut the gap to two points, but three straight aces at the service line from Steigerwald halted the home team's momentum and staked Fisher to a 17-12 edge.

As the frame wore on, Leaty fed Steigerwald for two straight kills to make it 23-18 before an ace and a kill from DeBonis sealed the win, 25-21.

Overall, Fisher was credited with 38 kills and hit .260 for the match with 40 digs on the defensive side of the ball.  The Gators were held to a .085 hitting percentage in the match as Fisher came up big at the net with five blocks.

The Cardinals will look to make it nine wins in a row at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, October 5th when they host The College at Brockport inside Manning and Napier Varsity Gymnasium on Bobby Wanzer Court.