PITTSFORD, NY – The No. 5 St. John Fisher University men's volleyball team (11-3) beat the Trine University Thunder (1-6) in three (25-22, 26-24, 25-19) before downing the SUNY Polytechnic Institute Wildcats (3-7) in three (25-14, 25-18, 28-26).
 
Fisher 3, Trine 0
The Cardinals found their success against Trine courtesy of strong defense. Fisher held Trine to a 0.121% hitting percentage with 31 kills over 99 attempts.
 
In the first set, the Cardinals tallied 10 kills across 30 attempts. After Trine kept it close, down 17-16, the Cardinals started to pull away, stretching the lead to 22-19. From there, Trine would fight back, but kills from Griffin Stella and Josh Bigford ended hopes in the first set, with Fisher winning 25-22.
 
Moving into the second, the Cardinals mounted a 13-8 lead, courtesy support from consecutive aces from Jake Baker and a total of five kills from Stella and Bigford. The lead would evaporate on a 7-2 run from the Thunder, bringing the score even at 15-15. The teams would exchange the next few points, with Fisher holding a slim 20-19 margin. After a big kill from Baker brought the score to a 22-21 edge, Trine took their first charged timeout. Baker and Bigford would add two points for Fisher, split between two from the Thunder. With the Cardinals at a 24-23 set point, Fisher would take a timeout. Out of the timeout, an attack error tied the set at 24-24. But, looking to put the second set away, the Cardinals turned to Matt Beiter and Bigford to add consecutive kills to take set two 26-24.
 
The Cardinals would overwhelm the Thunder at the start of the third set, opening a 16-7 advantage. Out of a Trine timeout, the lead would move to 22-15. While Trine would tally three points, two kills from Gabe La Robardiere would help close out win over Trine with a 25-19 third set victory, topping the Thunder 3-0.
 
Fisher 3, SUNY Poly 0
 
The Cardinals opened the first set with a strong 25-14 win, supported from four more kills from Bigford. Fisher tallied four service aces with seven service errors in the first set. As a team in the first set, the Cardinals hit 0.391% with 10 kills and just one error. Fisher held SUNY Poly to a 0.045% clip in the first, with six kills and five errors.
 
Heading into the second set, Fisher opened a four-point advantage, 12-8. The lead would swell to six, 17-11, behind a 6-3 run that featured two more kills from Bigford and one from Baker. Coming out of a Wildcat timeout, Fisher would solidify the set behind a strong serving performance from Casey Jackson, who would keep the Wildcats on defense. Fisher would take five of the next nine points, en route to a 25-19 victory.
 
In the third, Fisher would start down 9-3, forcing a timeout from Cardinal head coach Matt Cohen. An impressive 6-0 run from Fisher tied the game at 10-10. The run was capped by two aces from Baker. After a Wildcat timeout, the teams would double-down, exchanging the next 16 points, to bring the score to 18 apiece. A kill from the Wildcats would be followed by an ace, allowing the Wildcats to open their largest lead of the day at two, up 20-18. Fisher would then rebound behind a kill from Beiter and an ace from Newman. SUNY Poly would not go down quietly, adding another two points to take a another two-point edge, 23-21. After the second Fisher timeout, Ian Rauh would propel the Cardinals to a 28-26 victory.
 
Across the two games, libero Trace La Robardiere racked up 18 digs, including tying a season-high 11 in the win over Trine. Bigford would hit the 10+ kill mark for the 10^th time this season with a 13-kill performance against Trine.
 
The Cardinals continue their home stand Saturday, Feb. 11 against No. 13 University of Mount Union at 2 p.m. in the Manning & Napier Gymnasium before ending their home stretch with a matchup against Rochester rival, No. 9 Nazareth College.
 
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