PITTSFORD, NY – The St. John Fisher University women's volleyball team competed in the first round of the NCAA women's volleyball playoffs, hosted by Tufts University. The Cardinals competed against the University of Scranton to kick off the regional portion of the competition. Fisher was unable to fend off the Royals, and the season ended with a 3-0 defeat.

The Cardinals opened with a 5-2 lead in the first set, courtesy of kills from Kiana Walker and Lindsey DeBonis. The Royals were able to respond to tie the score at 7-7. The score went back-and-forth, with the teams knotted at 12-12. The Royals were able to find gaps in the Cardinal defense to take a 15-13 lead, forcing a Fisher timeout. Out of the timeout, DeBonis was credited with a kill to bring the deficit to one, but the Royals kept the pressure on, going on a 7-2 run to force the second timeout of the set for Fisher and bring the score to 21-16. Delayne Young secured a kill, and attack errors from Scranton brought the deficit back to two, but Scranton closed out the first set with four straight points to take the first set 25-19.

The second set started in a similar way to the first, with Fisher again opening a 5-2 lead before Scranton rallied to tie the score once again at 7-7. The Royals opened up a 15-12 lead to force the first timeout of the second set for Fisher. The deficit swelled to four, down 20-16, before another Cardinal timeout. Kills from Walker and DeBonis were not enough to overcome the Royals in the second set, dropping 25-19.

Looking to bounce back in the third set, the Cardinals started the third set down 14-10. From there, Scranton would go on a remarkable 11-1 run to capture the set by a 25-11 margin, knocking the Cardinals from the tournament.

Sydney French lead the Cardinals with nine kills and was credited with a block. DeBonis added eight kills and Katie Leaty was credited with 19 assists. The Cardinals were outhit 0.313 to 0.126. Over 119 attempts, Fisher would tally 29 kills to 14 errors.

While the outcome was not the result the Cardinals were looking for, they finish the season with a 21-8 overall record and capturing their fourth consecutive Empire 8 Championship title.

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