Men's Volleyball | 2/22/2023 11:18:00 AM

PITTSFORD, NY – After a weekend off, the No. 6 St. John Fisher University men's volleyball team (13-3) will return to action by hitting the road for contests at No. 2 Vassar on Friday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. and No. 12 New York University on Saturday, Feb. 25. at 2 p.m. The games mark the first conference games of the years for the Cardinals, who are coming off a thrilling 3-2 win over No. 9 Nazareth College last Wednesday.

The Cardinals enter the week riding a six-game win streak and will look for a 2-0 start in conference play.

Scouting the Opponents:
The Cardinals will open conference play against the Vassar College Brewers, a team Fisher bested twice last season, winning 3-1 both times. The second win over the Brewers came in the United Volleyball Conference Championship Tournament, as the win sent the Cardinals to the championship contest against New Paltz.

The key to success for the Cardinals was the support in both games was from their outsides, as Josh Bigford finished with a team-leading 13 kills and 3 blocks in the April matchup, while 18 kills from Jake Baker in the regular season matchup pushed Fisher past the Brewers. Across the two contests, Fisher outhit Vassar, .0322% vs. 0.265%, even though the Brewers finished with more kills, 110 vs. 85. Across both games, the Cardinals had more aces (11 total) and blocks (21 total) than the Brewers (8, 14 respectively).

The last time these teams met at Vassar was in 2020, when the Brewers would win 3-2 and begin a 4-game win streak against the Cardinals, which was snapped in the previously mentioned regular season matchup last season.
Fisher will then play New York University on Saturday, looking to win their fourth straight over the Violets. Matt Beiter ended with eight kills, two blocks, and an ace in the win and Griffin Stella added a game-leading four blocks as well.

NYU is coming off a weekend where they split, beating Nazareth in four before dropping to Elmira.

Stat to Note
The Cardinals will host two UVC matchup this season, including a game against Elmira College on March 15 and a March 25 contest against New Paltz. The Cardinals went 5-2 in conference play last year and 5-3 during the 2021 season. Each year since 2017, the UVC has had a different champion, with NYU, Stevens, New Paltz, Vassar, and Fisher winning the crown (no champion in 2020).

Players to Watch
Gavin Newman is the player of the week to watch. The sophomore led the team in aces last season (50), and was instrumental in the win over Nazareth. In the fifth set, Newman would lead the Cardinals to a momentum swinging 8-0 run, to open an insurmountable 10-2 edge.

This season, Newman has tallied 18 aces to 39 service errors. In addition, over 53 sets played, Newman has added 22 kills and 145 assists (2.74 A/S), already more than the 12 kills totaled from last season, when he appeared in 96 sets.  

"Coach said he trusted me to go out there and hit my serve and that's what I did. I focus on getting out there and hitting it as hard as I can to get the [opponent] off-balance." Looking to emphasize the statement win, Newman added "this is just the beginning for us." 
 
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