PITTSFORD, NY – The No. 8 St. John Fisher University men's volleyball team (19-5) took on the Penn State Behrend Lions (12-5) in a Saturday afternoon contest, pushing past the Lions 3-2 (25-15, 26-28, 25-27, 25-18, 15-11). The win moves the Cardinals current win streak to six, tied for their longest stretch this season.
 
The first set opened with three straight points for Fisher, including back-to-back aces from Josh Bigford. Later in the set, a strong rally ended after Gavin Miller went over the shoulder to nail a rainbow kill that forced a Lions timeout, with Fisher up 12-7. The Cardinals lead swelled to as much as 10, before a kill from Graham Brodsky nailed the first set, 25-15.
 
The Lions opened up their first lead of the day to start the second set, but Fisher retaliated to take back a 10-7 lead to force a timeout. Out of the stoppage, Fisher continued their offensive run, using a kill from Tyler Cohen to secure a key rally. The Lions kept the contest close in the second, with the score tied at 17-17. After the Lions took back the lead, 19-17, Fisher used a four point run to take back control, 21-19. With the set at 27-26, Beiter hit a line shot that was called just out to end the second set.
 
Fisher returned in the third set with their starters, adding Bigford, Gabe La Robardiere, Griffin Stella, and Trace La Robardiere back into the fold. The set began at 8-8, but the Cardinals started to find separation after a kill from Beiter was followed up by a block from G. La Robardiere. The lead shifted throughout the set, with the Cardinals maintaining a four point edge. The Lions were forced to take their first timeout of the set following a critical kill from Cohen moved the score to 19-14. But the Lions did not back down, using a 4-0 run to tie the set at 19-19. The Lions took another set point at 26-25, and held off the Cardinals to take the third set 27-25.
 
With Fisher on the ropes, the score remained close to open the fourth, tied at 8-8. Using kills from Stella and a block from Bigford helped Fisher begin to move momentum in the Cardinals favor, up 10-8. The Cardinals continued to force the Lions to make quick adjustments, moving the lead to four, 16-12. The pressure mounted for the Lions, who struggled to find offensive responses to the insistent Cardinals, with the score at 22-17. At set point, 24-18, Casey Jackson nailed a kill to end the set, 25-18.
 
Bigford tallied five kills in the fourth set to help the Cardinals push past the Lions.
 
Looking to continue the offense in the fifth, Fisher used a kill from Jackson and an ace from Gavin Newman to take a short-lasting lead. With the score tied 10-10, Bigford put down a critical kill that was followed by a Behrend error to open a two-point edge. Immediately out of a Lions timeout, Bigford nailed an ace to move the lead to three, up 13-10. After another timeout from the Lions, the Cardinals rattled off two of the next three points to end the fifth 15-11.
 
As a team, the Cardinals hit 0.295%, using 54 kills to couple with 15 errors across 132 attempts. The Cardinals also tallied 14 service aces and 16 service errors in the win, a node to their recent success from the service line.
 
The Cardinals will return to play next Saturday at 1 p.m., for their final regular season home game against No. 11 New Paltz. Stay up-to-date with the latest news, scores, highlights and more by downloading the official mobile app for Fisher Athletics. Just search SJF Athletics in the App Store or on Google Play and download today for free.  Follow the Cardinals on social media for more! Twitter | Instagram