POUGHKEEPSIE, NY - The No. 11, third seeded St. John Fisher University ( 24-6, 3-3 UVC) kept the No. 8, second seeded SUNY New Paltz Hawks (20-9, 5-1 UVC) stifled, as the Cardinals offense overwhelmed the Hawks in four sets (25-17, 17-25, 25-18, 25-20) in the semi-final round of the UVC tournament.
 
The first set opened with a kill from Jake Baker. The kill was followed by a block from Gabe La Robardiere, setting the Cardinals up for early success. The Cardinals would keep early pressure, using kills from Griffin Stella and G. La Robardiere to move the score to 6-2, forcing the Hawks to burn an early timeout. On the first kill of the day for Josh Bigford, Evan Ingerick reached his 1000 career assist. New Paltz would rally to tie the set at 12-12, but the offense pulled away and would go up a 7-2 run to go up 19-14. The run was highlighted by an ace from Gavin Newman, getting the sophomore closer to tying the Cardinals single season service ace record. Looking to put an emphasis on the first set win, Josh Bigford put up a massive block to end the set in the Cardinals favor, 25-17.
 
With Fisher down 4-1 in the second, Stella would find a hole in the middle of the court to try and take back control. The Hawks lead would swell to 7-3, and eventually 10-4 which would force head coach Matt Cohen to take his first timeout of the set. Looking to come out strong out of the timeout, a service error would give Fisher the ball back. On the next play, Stella would win the battle at the net, putting it down for the kill and shrinking the deficit to two. Looking to carry over his offensive performance from last night, Baker would follow the kill from Stella with a massive swing of his own, moving the difference to just one and forcing the Hawks to take a timeout of their own. Out of the stoppage, the Hawks would capitalize on Cardinal errors, moving the score to 17-14 in their favor. With the score 21-16, Cohen took his second timeout of the set, but it would not be enough to slow down the Hawks offense, eventually tying the match 1-1. 
 
Tied 2-2 in the third, the Cardinals would rally for five straight, in a stretch that included two aces from Bigford, a block from Baker, and a kill from G. La Robardiere on a beautiful assist from Ingerick. The offense would not slow down after a Hawks timeout, extending the lead to 14-6 on kills from Baker and Bigford, with a supporting ace from Casey Jackson. The lead would shrink to 15-10, and after Cohen used his first timeout of the set, Baker would use a roll shot and Stella would get involved to nail a kill to keep the difference at five, up 18-13. The Cardinals would continue to find success from there, as Baker added a big block that included a stare down and Bigford included a back row kill to go up eight, 21-13. After the Hawks tallied three straight, Baker and Bigford would end thoughts of a comeback with additional kills to ice the third set 25-18.
 
The defense set up the fourth set, as Matt Beiter recorded a block to open scoring. While Fisher would pull ahead 7-3, the Hawks would regain footing to knot the score at 8-8. Using a swing from Newman, the Cardinals would go back up 9-8, and eventually move to a 12-11 mark. But New Paltz would continue to persevere, taking their first lead of the set up 14-13. The lead would go to two, but Baker recorded two straight kills and Stella added a block to regain momentum and the lead, up 17-16. After New Paltz took a timeout, the Cardinals would continue the impressive performance, going on a 4-1 run that included a block and kill from Baker as well as a block from Stella to go up 21-17. Bigford would tally his 13 kill of the day to put Fisher at set point, 24-20, and an error from the Hawks gave the Cardinals the win in four sets.
 
Fisher used 43 kills, including a team high 16 from Baker to support an offense that hit .292 in the win. Baker, who has hit .306 this weekend with 31 kills and just eight attack errors, was humble when speaking of the offensive success: "our middles are such a presence on offense, which allow Josh and I to get involved." 
 
After his 39 assist day, Ingerick would acknowledge that reaching 1000 assists "means a lot and is a personal milestone," but shared that he is "focused on reaching 2000 career assists to help the team." Baker and Cohen had high praise of their setter, as Baker shared that he is "super proud of him. [Evan] is a fantastic setter who has some of the smoothest hands I have ever seen. I can't wait to see him get to 2000." Cohen added that Evan "made great decisions and commanded the offense incredibly well, which in turn put our hitters in a position to score."
 
The win sends the Cardinals to the championship match for the second straight year. The match will be played tomorrow against No. 1, first seeded Vassar at 2 p.m., in what is shaping up to be a meeting of two powerhouse programs. 

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