PITTSFORD, N.Y. – Freshman outside hitter Avery Kielbasinski accounted for 19 points to lead the St. John Fisher men's volleyball team to a four-set victory (25-23, 20-25, 25-23, 26-24) over No. 14 MIT on Friday night inside Manning & Napier Varsity Gym. 

The Cardinals (17-9, 3-3 United Volleyball Conference) clinched a spot in the UVC Postseason Tournament and extended their season-long winning streak to eight matches with the victory, their first over a ranked opponent this year. MIT (18-6, 4-2 United Volleyball Conference) had its three-game winning streak snapped.

Kielbasinski slammed 15 kills while hitting .481 and aced a season-high three serves. The match marked his fourth this season with 15-plus points and third with 15-plus kills. 

Senior outside hitter Casey Jackson finished with 13 points on eight kills, three aces and three total blocks, including one solo. Junior middle blocker Guillermo Perez accounted for nine points on five kills and four block assists, while sophomore outside hitter Coleton Welter had 7.5 points with seven kills and a block. 

Braeden Baker and Henry Garewal each slammed 15 kills and totaled 18 points for the Engineers. 

How It Happened 

The opening frame set the tone for the back-and-forth four-set match, as it featured 13 ties and five lead changes. Kielbasinski smashed seven kills while hitting .636 in the set and had two of them during the Cardinals' 4-1 run to close out the 25-23 victory. 

MIT took advantage of a sluggish second set for the Cardinals offensively, claiming a 25-20 victory. Fisher hit a meager .087 with 10 kills and eight errors, while MIT hit .333 with nine kills and only two errors. The Engineers separated with an 8-3 run to take a 17-11 lead and stayed in front by five to six points the rest of the way. 

The Cardinals led by as many as six, 19-13 and 21-15, in the third set but had to survive a late rally from MIT to secure a 25-23 victory. Jackson smashed five kills while hitting .571, and Welter had three kills while hitting nearly .290. Kielbasinski managed just one kill on six attack attempts in the frame but had all three of his service aces. 

The fourth set featured the most ties (19) and lead changes (7) of any set all night, and the Cardinals prevailed 26-24 with another strong finish, scoring the final three points after MIT took a 24-23 lead. Kielbasinski had another big performance as Fisher secured the match victory, recording five kills on five attack attempts. Welter contributed three kills and registered a .400 hitting percentage.

Match Notes

• Freshman libero Luke Zimmerman led the Cardinals with 17 digs. The Cardinals had 46 digs as a team, their fifth most in a match this season. 

• Senior setter Aiden Calhoun led Fisher with 18 assists, while graduate senior Tyler Cohen dished out 17. 

• The Cardinals aced 10 serves, their most in a conference match this season. 

Up Next

The Cardinals face Vassar in their final regular-season conference match of the season at 1 p.m. on Saturday inside Manning & Napier Varsity Gym.