Men's Volleyball | 2/15/2023 12:05:00 PM

PITTSFORD, NY – The No. 6 St. John Fisher University men's volleyball team (12-3) is set to host the No. 9 Nazareth Golden Flyers (13-0) in a midweek matchup on Wednesday, February 15 at 7 p.m. in the Manning & Napier Gymnasium.

Scouting the Golden Flyers:

The Golden Flyers are a familiar foe, with the Cardinals taking the last four meetings, including an epic five-set win over Nazareth last March. In the win, Josh Bigford put down 16 kills, while Jake Baker added 15 of his own, including a string of four-straight in a momentum swinging start to the fifth set. Meanwhile, Matt Beiter supported the win by adding a respectable seven kills and four blocks.

The Golden Flyers have had an impressive start to the season, but have their toughest week yet, facing the No. 6 Cardinals on Wednesday before playing host to No. 10 New York University on Saturday. The Golden Flyers will also head down-state next weekend to challenge No. 5 Vassar and No. 8 New Paltz. Over the 13 wins this season, two have been against top 15 AVCA ranked teams at the time (Wentworth 3-2, Mount Union 3-2).

Nazareth is led by junior OH Owen Wickens, who is coming off a record-tying 29 kill performance over Mount Union. Across 47 sets played, Wickens has an incredible 186 kills, good for a 3.96 kills/set ratio. Wickens is hitting 0.271% on the campaign.

We Need Assistance

Evan Ingerick is coming off a week in which he was named to the All-Tournament team for the Fisher invite after being credited with 89 assists over the 3 contests. The sophomore from Penfield finished the weekend with 16 digs and three blocks. Ingerick has shown enormous growth on the court this season, averaging 8.7 assists/set (40 sets played), a significant jump from his 6.81 assists/set last season (58 sets played). Ingerick has also found three service aces, which is a jump from his singular ace last season.

Meanwhile, his defensive metrics are on par with last years numbers, recording 52 digs and 10.0 total blocks, good for a 0.25 blocks/set ratio and 22.0 total points. Last season, Ingerick finished with 13.0 blocks, a 0.22 blocks/set ratio with 19.0 total points. Over two games played last season versus Nazareth, Ingerick had 16 assists and five digs.

Players to Watch

In addition to Ingerick, expect the Cardinals to rely heavily on the leadership of Bigford to move them past the Golden Flyers. The Syracuse native has played in 47 sets this season, putting down 168 kills over a 0.387% hitting percentage.

Over five seasons, Bigford has amassed 56 kills over Nazareth, with a 0.211% hitting percentage. The standout is a Cardinal leader in kills (1328), attack attempts (3449), attack percentage (0.303), and points (1536.5).

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