PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College men's volleyball team remained perfect on the season as the Cardinals closed out the fifth-annual Cardinal Classic with a straight-set win over visiting Medaille College on Sunday morning inside Manning and Napier Varsity Gymnasium on Bobby Wanzer Court. With the win, Fisher, which is ranked 11th in the initial American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, improved to 3-0 on the year while the Mavericks fell to 0-1 to begin their campaign.
Neither team was able to create much separation to begin the first set until
Paul Hackford came to the service line and orchestrated a 9-0 scoring run that featured five aces to push the Cardinals ahead, 19-9.
After a side out, Fisher strung together five more points including back-to-back kills from
Griffin Stella and
Josh Bigford to set up set-point before Bigford hammered home the deciding kill for a 25-11 decision.
The Cardinals carried over their momentum in the second set and held off a late rally by the Mavericks for a 25-18 win and a two-set lead. As the third frame began, Fisher quickly put the visitors in a nine-point hole as Medaille called a timeout trailing 10-1.
From there, the Mavericks would cut the gap to seven, but Fisher's speed and power on the outside proved to be too much as the Cardinals closed things out with five of the set's final six points fueled by two straight kills from
Matt Beiter to complete the sweep, 25-13.
Bigford led all players with 11 kills on 19 attempts while
Jake Baker added eight kills, two digs and a pair of blocks. Stella notched five kills and three blocks in the win while Beiter finished with four kills at the net and four aces at the service line. Hackford was credited with five aces in all while
David Cerqua contributed four digs over three frames.
Gavin Newman handed out 18 assists for Fisher while
Evan Ingerick chipped in with 13 helpers in two sets.
As a team, Fisher hit .517 overall in the match and had a season-best 14 aces.
The Cardinals will look to extend their winning streak on Friday when they travel to Utica to battle Lasell and Mount St. Joseph as part of the SUNY Poly Wildcat Invitational.
