Men's Volleyball | 2/9/2023 11:01:00 AM

PITTSFORD, NY – The No. 5 St. John Fisher University men's volleyball team (9-3) will return home to the Manning & Napier Gymnasium for just the second time this season to play host of the Fisher Invite. The invite is set to include Trine University, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, and the University of Mount Union.

The Cardinals will open their weekend on Friday, Feb. 10 at 6 p.m. against Trine before a matchup at 8 p.m. against the SUNY Poly Wildcats. Fisher will end their weekend with a game at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 11 against the University of Mount Union.

Scouting the Opponents:

The Cardinals have yet to play Trine University through programmatic history, who has started the season 1-5. The Thunderbirds are on a four-game losing streak that extends back to Jan. 28.

SUNY Poly has started the year 2-5, dropping earlier this season to Wentworth and Juniata, who Fisher has posted a 1-1 record against this season. The Cardinals have won all three matches against the Wildcats, besting them 3-0 last January.

Fisher has also yet to play the No. 13 University of Mount Union, who enters the week boasting an impressive 8-1 overall record and holds a six-game win streak. The Raiders are coming off a perfect 4-0 weekend, topping No. 12 UC – Santa Cruz in a highlight reel five-set victory. The Raiders also took No. 6 Messiah to five earlier this year, eventually losing 15-9 in the final set.

156 Weeks for No. 5 Fisher

The Cardinals have been ranked in the top-15 team in the nation for an incredible 156 consecutive weeks according to the AVCA Coaches Poll, with their most recent ranking coming in ranked No. 5.

This mark is the highest they have been ranked in programmatic history. The previous high Fisher has been ranked was No. 6, a spot they held during Weeks 5 and 6 of the 2021 season (3/23-4/5).

The Cardinals have also been ranked in the top-10 11 times over programmatic history.

Player to Watch

For the second time this year, Gabe La Robardiere has been named the Empire 8 Rookie of the Week.

This past weekend, at the Juniata Invitational, La Robardiere slammed 11 kills and added three blocks across three matches. He had four kills and one block against No. 2 Juniata on Friday before adding three kills and two blocks in a three-set win over No. 6 Messiah on Saturday afternoon. La Robardiere added four kills in a three-set win over Penn State Altoona on his way to garnering his second E8 weekly accolade.

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