POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – The No. 6 St. John Fisher University men's volleyball team (13-4) dropped a Friday night match against No. 2 Vassar College (12-1). With the loss, the Cardinals start with an 0-1 record in conference play, while Vassar improves to a 2-0 start.  

In the first set, the Cardinals struggled serving, as five of the first 10 points for Vassar came on service errors by Fisher. The offense of the Cardinals would find strength in moving the ball around the court, using kills from Matt Beiter, Griffin Stella, Josh Bigford, and Evan Ingerick to take their first lead of the day, up 15-13. The two-point lead forced a timeout for the Brewers. The set would remain tight, as the lead would change hands FOUR (24-23) times from the 15-13 edge. With the set knotted at 23-23, another Fisher service error, the tenth of the set, gave the Brewers set point, but back-to-back Cardinal points, including a critical defensive play from Ingerick was supported by a kill from Bigford to give the Cardinals set advantage. In unrelentless fashion, the Brewers fought back to take set-point, up 26-25 before a strong defensive play from Vassar ended the first set, 27-25.

The Brewers opened and maintained a two point advantage throughout the second set, which would be extended on a 4-1 Brewers run, forcing a Fisher timeout, now down 19-15. Out of the timeout, Vassar would add three more points, with Fisher managing to score a point on a kill from Bigford, furthering the deficit to 22-16. Looking to find answers for the Brewers offense, the Cardinals would be charged their second timeout. Fisher would drop the second set 25-19, with the final point for the Brewers coming on another service error.

With their backs against the wall, the Cardinals started the third set up 9-6, before a 5-0 Vassar run forced an early Fisher timeout. The Cardinals would battle, keeping the deficit at three throughout the set. Ultimately, Vassar was able to put the Cardinals away in three, taking the third set in a 25-19 fashion.

After hitting 0.353% in the first set, Vassar found answers to the Cardinals offense, limiting their offense to a 0.280% clip in the second and a meager 0.167% mark in the third.

Both teams finished with 37 kills and 34 assists, with the key differences coming from the service line. Fisher ended the night with 22 service errors with only one ace, while Vassar totaled 14 errors but found five aces.

The Cardinals will look to rebound tomorrow, when they take on No. 12 New York University at 2 p.m.

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