PITTSFORD, NY – The no. 7 St. John Fisher men's volleyball team (7-2) fell to the Daemen University Wildcats (3-1) in a competitive five set contest. The loss marks the third consecutive game that Daemen has bested Fisher, and the second straight five set loss. The loss also ends a four-game win streak for the Cardinals.
 
Fisher came out strong in the first set, using five kills, four of which came from Josh Bigford, to 14-8 advantage. A 6-2 Cardinal run, based on three Wildcat errors and kills from Bigford and Evan Ingerick fueled a game-best 10-point edge, up 21-11. While the Wildcats would get their offensive going by scoring five of the next nine points, an ace from Gavin Newman sealed the set in the Cardinal favor, 25-16.
 
Carrying over the momentum from end of the first set, Daemen would push a 7-3 lead to start the second. A Fisher timeout did little to stifle the strong Daemen offense, as the deficit would swell to 11-6. The shortfall would stay at five with the Wildcats leading 20-14, forcing the second Cardinal timeout. A 5-2 run, which featured two more kills from Bigford shrank the score to 22-19, but Daemen would rally behind more three kills to close out the second set 25-22.
 
Heading into the third set, the backed by strong offense once more, Daemen would open a 10-6 lead. The Cardinals would not be able to stop the Wildcat success out of a timeout, as Daemen took a competitive 17-11 advantage. The Cardinals efforts were set back on three kills from Daemen to finish the third set 25-18, putting Fisher on the brink of a four-set loss.
 
With support from an energetic and engaged crowd for the first home game of the year, Daemen once again started strong, opening a 13-9 lead. Three attack errors from the Wildcats would get the crowd even more engaged, as Fisher would run the deficit to one, down 15-14, before two kills from Jake Baker and individual from Griffin Stella and Gabe La Robardiere tied the set at 19. With a 22-20 score, head coach Matt Cohen took his second timeout of the set. After an exchange of service errors, a kill from Daemen gave the Wildcats a 24-21 game-point edge. Fisher would force three Daemen errors to knot the game up at 24 all. With the crowd backing the Cardinals, a kill from Matt Beiter would help Fisher go up 27-26. Daemen would respond with a kill of their own, but consecutive kills from Beiter and Stella iced the fourth set, 29-27 to tie the game at 2-2.
 
Regarding the energy in the fourth set, Bigford shared "it was big for us to have such a great crowd for the first home game of the season. It really helped us keep the energy high in that fourth set," he said.
 
"Daemen, even as a top D-II program, is always a big rival for us and that was one of the bigger crowds we have had so the momentum of our fans was really huge for us," he added.
 
Looking to build on a massive comeback in the fourth set, Fisher would falter to start the fifth, taking a timeout after a 5-1 Daemen lead. The teams would exchange the next six points before La Robardiere added a kill, but a six-point run for Daemen gave the Wildcats an insurmountable 14-5 advantage. Daemen would take set five 15-6, besting the Cardinals 3-2.  
 
Bigford ended with 15 kills, eight digs, and a service ace. Stella complimented Bigford with a season-high nine kill performance while matching a career high seven blocks. Newman would be credited with 10 assists, four digs, and three aces.
 
Looking ahead, the schedule for Fisher does not get much easier, with a matchup at #4 Juniata (7-0) slated for Friday, Feb. 3 as part of the Juniata Invitational. In looking to next week, Bigford added: "this was a great game to get us ready for a couple top-ten teams we will face next weekend, it showed us how we need to play to be at that level. We see that we need to pass a little better to get some more of our middles involved. Overall, I think this really helped prepare us for next week."
 
Over the five set loss, middles Matt Beiter, Griffin Stella, and Ian Rauh finished with 24 attempts (~5 per set) and combined for 13 kills, good for a 0.458 hitting percentage.
 
In addition to Juniata, the Cardinals will also face #9 Messiah University and Penn State Altoona next Saturday.
 
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