PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher University men's volleyball team kicked off a busy weekend with a double header against Houghton University and #5 Juniata College. The Cardinals cruised by the Highlanders in a 3-0 sweep, before upsetting the Eagles 3-1. Fisher now holds a 4-0 record on the season.
 
Cardinals 3 – Highlanders 0
 
Fisher took care of business against Houghton, who began their inaugural season. The Cardinals trailed 1-0 in the first set, but quickly reclaimed the lead and did not surrender it again throughout the match. An 8-0 run in the first set catapulted them to a 25-8 win, and continued that momentum towards the tail end of the second when they tallied eight straight points to secure the frame. In the third, they used the run of points to jump out to an 8-1 advantage and road it to a 25-14 set three win and 3-0 match victory.
 
Tyler Cohen led the way with seven kills on a .308 percentage, while adding two aces. Evan Ingerick was the lead setter and recorded 28 assists and three aces of his own. Owen Gardner, Sonepith Keoviengsamay and Guillermo Perez each tallied four or more kills to help lead the Fisher offense.
 
Cardinals 3 – Eagles 1
 
The Cardinals took their momentum from the first game and carried it to a big matchup between ranked opposition. After dropping a tightly contested first set, 28-26, Fisher won three straight to secure a victory over a top-5 team. In the second frame, Fisher was down 23-20, but errors by the Eagles and a pair of aces by Jake Baker pushed the team back in front 24-23. With the score tied at 25-25 a kill by Ian Rauh and mistake by Juniata evened the match at 1-1.
 
The third set was back and forth, but when the Cardinals trailed 23-22, Casey Jackson recorded a kill and later secured the set with a service ace and put the team ahead 2-1. In the fourth set, Fisher took control early with a 6-0 run that put them in front 7-4. Despite the Eagles getting back to within two points six times, they were unable to even the score and overcome the Cardinals. Griffin Stella dealt the final blow thanks to an assist from Gavin Newman and Fisher completed the upset.
 
Rauh was effective in the middle, tallying 17 kills on a .652 percentage, while adding seven block assists. Baker added 11 kills of his own to go along with three block assists, two service aces and six digs. Newman was the leading distributer with 39 digs and led the team defensively with 13 digs.
 
The Cardinals are back in action on Saturday, Jan. 19 for day two of the Fisher Tournament. They will take on #17 Lasell University at 1p.m. and Misericordia University at 5 p.m.
 
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