PITTSFORD N.Y. – The nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College men's volleyball team overpowered No. 13 rival Nazareth College in four sets on Wednesday evening inside Kidera Gymnasium. With the win, Fisher, which is ranked 14th in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, improves to 11-3 while the Golden Flyers drop to 14-3.
 
Jake Baker led the way with 14 kills followed by Josh Bigford who finished with nine kills. Matt Beiter hammered home seven kills including the match-winner while Paul Hackford chipped in with a team-leading 23 assists paired with 10 digs and five blocks. Griffin Stella also finished with four blocks while David Cerqua produced 19 digs.
 
After dropping the first set 25-17, the Cardinals defense sparked a 5-0 run behind back-to-back blocks by Hackford and Beiter.
 
From there, Nazareth would battle back as both teams would go point-for-point throughout the set until kills from Stella and Hackford tied the match up at 15-15. The Golden Flyers would begin to pull away late as they orchestrated a 6-1 run to lead 20-16 late in the frame. 
 
As the set wore on, the Cardinals relied heavily on Baker at the net as the sophomore scored four of the team's next five points to propel the visitors to a 26-24 win.
 
With momentum swinging toward the road team, head coach Stephen England's squad took advantage as it would take set three 25-18.
 
Leading by a set entering the fourth frame, Fisher continued to dominate offensively and used a 9-4 run behind kills by Baker and Hackford To grab a 17-12 advantage.  From there, the Cardinals pulled away and earned a 25-16 decision to close out the Golden Flyers in a top-15 showdown.
 
As a team, Fisher hit .224 in the win, while tallying nine blocks and 44 digs.
 
The Cardinals will be back in action at 7 p.m. on Friday as they travel to Annandale-On-Hudson to take on Bard College in the team's United Volleyball Conference debut.