PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College men's volleyball team clinched its ticket to a spot in the United Volleyball Championship after defeating Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 3-1, Friday evening inside Manning & Napier Varsity Gymnasium. With the win, Fisher, which is receiving votes in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association national poll, improve to 19-7 on the season, and 4-2 in the UVC, while MIT moves to 11-7 overall, and 1-4 in the conference.
 
Josh Bigford led the way for Fisher with 15 kills, followed by Jake Baker with 13 and Matt Beiter with 10. Gavin Newman was dominant at the service line as the freshman tallied a career-high seven aces. Paul Hackford assisted on 31 kills, while also tying his career-high with nine blocks. Libero David Cerqua found himself 13 digs, while Bigford had nine digs to his name.
 
After taking the first set 25-16, the Cardinals jumped out to a 7-5 lead in set two after back-to-back blocks from Griffin Stella and Hackford. 
 
From there, a pair of runs by both teams saw the game tied up at 17 after another block from Hackford and Stella. A service error from the Cardinals gave MIT a one-point lead before a Bigford kill, and one of Newman's seven aces gave Fisher a 20-19 lead. 
 
Looking to go up two-sets to none, Fisher produced a 5-2 run finished off by Baker to take the set 25-23. 
 
Trailing 2-0, the Engineers were able to steal set three 26-24, to cut the lead to one set.
 
The Cardinals came out hot in set four as freshman Evan Ingerick came in to set. After finding Beiter and Bigford each for kills, the Cardinals took a 5-2 lead. MIT would stay in the game with help, as the Cardinals would give the opposition seven points from errors. 
 
Tied up at 10, the Cardinals would go on a 6-1 run behind a Baker kill, and another block from Stella and Hackford.
 
MIT would not go away as they would generate a 5-2 run of their own to cut the Fisher lead to two. From there, Evan Ingerick would receive a pass and find Matt Cieplicki and Stella for back-to-back plays to take a four-point lead.
 
The Engineers would get a pair of points to cut the deficit to two, but it would not be enough as Stella earned his fifth kill, before a Hackford and Beiter double-block would end the set 25-21, giving Fisher the 3-1 match victory. 
 
As a team, the Cardinals hit .230 with 48 kills, 14 blocks, 10 aces, and 48 digs. 
 
Fisher will return to play at 7 p.m. on Wednesday as they host rival Nazareth on Senior Night inside Manning & Napier Varsity Gymnasium.