NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – For the first time in its five-year history, the nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College men's volleyball team will compete for a United Volleyball Conference Championship as the Cardinals, who are the second overall seed in this year's championship tournament, defeated nationally-ranked Vassar College in four sets in the semifinal round inside the Hawk Center on the campus of SUNY New Paltz.  With the win, Fisher, which is ranked 15th in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, improved to 23-7 while the No. 9 Brewers concluded the tournament at 18-6.

Josh Bigford finished with a team-leading 13 kills to go along with five digs and three blocks while Evan Ingerick chipped in with a double-double including 17 assists and 10 digs over three sets.  Jake Baker notched nine kills on 27 swings and had a pair of aces at the service line while Griffin Stella hammered home seven kills and had seven big blocks at the net in the win.  Paul Hackford handed out 18 assists overall and contributed five kills and six digs while David Cerqua had nine digs in all for the Cardinals. 

After swapping the first two sets, the Cardinals used a 3-0 run that included a kill from Matt Beiter to break a 6-6 tie in the third frame.  Leading 9-6, Fisher saw the Brewers battle back to tie the score at 12-12 midway through the set.

From there, the Cardinals captured the momentum as a Vassar service error led to a 5-1 run for Fisher that made it 17-13.  Holding a four-point cushion, the tides began to shift again as Vassar pounded six kills and scored seven of the set's next 10 points to knot things up at 20-20.

Both teams traded points down the stretch until back-to-back kills from Ingerick and Bigford followed by a key block by Hackford proved to be the difference in a 25-22 win.

In the fourth set, the lead would change hands four times early on until two quick kills from Hackford and Beiter pushed Fisher ahead, 11-9.

As the set wore on, the lead would grow to as many as five points when a 3-0 burst made it 20-15 in the Cardinals' favor, but the Brewers recovered and scored three unanswered points of their own to pull to within two, 20-18.

Clinging to a slim lead, Fisher regained control as Baker had a kill on the outside and then served up an ace as the Cardinals scored five of the final eight points to earn a 25-21 win and the team's first-ever appearance in the UVC title game.  

The Cardinals will vie for the conference crown at 2 p.m. on Sunday when they take on the No. 6 SUNY New Paltz Hawks.