BUFFALO, N.Y. – Buffalo State's Gavin Wilczewski pounded a match-high 22 kills as the Bengals (7-0), ranked No. 17 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Top-20, edged the St. John Fisher men's volleyball team (4-3) in five sets on Friday night. 

How It Happened 

The Cardinals claimed the opening set on the strength of three kills apiece from senior outside hitters Casey Jackson and Gabe La Robardiere and junior outside hitter Sonepith Keoviengsamay. Fisher took control of the frame with a 7-3 run, which made the score 17-11, and soon after finished off the Bengals, 25-21. 

The Bengals' offense, after some struggles in set No. 1, came alive in the second frame, which they won 25-21. Buffalo State slammed 16 kills and had just three errors on 25 attack attempts for a scorching .520 hitting percentage. Wilczewski and Kaden Strong each recorded four kills, while setter Drew Bowman tallied 12 assists. 

The Cardinals hit under .250 in the second frame, mustering just 11 kills and committing five errors on 27 swings. Keoviengsamay and freshman outside hitter Avery Kielbasinski had three kills apiece. 

Fisher regained the match lead with a 25-23 win in the third set. The Bengals had five service errors and seven attacking errors, while the Cardinals hit .333 and slammed 10 kills. The Cardinals ended the set with a La Robardiere kill and a solo block by freshman outside hitter Giancarlo Martinez. 

Roles were reversed in the fourth set, which the Bengals won 25-23 to force the extra frame. The Cardinals hit just .147 with seven errors, and Wilczewski pounded nearly half (6) of Buffalo State's 14 kills in the frame. Bowman piled up 13 more helpers on 29 set attempts. 

In the fifth set, the Bengals went on a 5-0 run that included a pair of kills from DeAngelo D'Aloise, who had four total in the frame, to take a 10-6 lead. The Cardinals answered with two straight points to make it 10-8 but never pulled closer than that, as the Bengals finished off the victory with a 5-2 run. 

Match Notes

• La Robardiere led the Cardinals with 14 kills while hitting .480. He also had a pair of block assists. 

• Keoviengsamay slammed a season-high 13 kills and had a career-best 13 digs defensively. 

• Senior setter Tyler Cohen amassed a career-high 32 assists. 

• Senior middle blocker Guillermo Perez had a career-high six total blocks, two of which were solo. 

• Freshman libero Luke Zimmermann finished tied for the team lead with 13 digs. 

Up Next

The Cardinals face No. 14 SUNY New Paltz at 7 p.m. next Friday, Feb. 13.