St. John Fisher Volleyball Takes First Match at Empire 8 Crossover
The St. John Fisher College volleyball team came away with a 3-1 victory against Ithaca College in a tight contest on Friday night. The match was the first for both teams in the Empire 8 Crossover Tournament held at Fisher. With the win, Fisher improves to 16-9 on the season and 3-2 in the Empire 8. If the Cardinals defeat Alfred on Saturday, they will earn one of four spots in the Empire 8 Conference Championship.
The Cardinals won the first game of the evening, a 26-24 victory over the Bombers. Ithaca had a comfortable lead in the game, with a nine-point margin over the host team, but Fisher was able to rally back for the victory. With the score 12-3 at one point, Fisher was able to slowly chip away at the lead, and eventually tied things up at 21-21 before an Ithaca timeout. Fisher eventually got the victory on a Becca Smith kill which sealed the comeback for the Cardinals.
Ithaca would even the match at 1-1 after taking the second set 25-20. Ithaca played from behind in the first 10 points, but after evening the game at 10-10, the Bombers took the lead for the rest of the game. Late in the game, Fisher won a long rally to make the score 22-20 Ithaca, but that was as close as the Cardinals could get.
Fisher would win the third set with 25-19 score, after holding the lead for the entire game. The Cardinals started out strong with a 5-1 score, before forcing Ithaca to take a timeout. The visitors attempted to rally back, making the score 14-11, but they were unable to take the lead.
Fisher finished out the match with at 25-18 victory in the fourth set for the largest margin of victory of the day. The final game saw many ties early, with the score evened at every point from six to 11. But, Fisher was able to take the lead, and the Bombers were unable to catch up. With the score 20-18, Fisher was able to score five-straight point to take the match.
The victory ended an Ithaca eight-game winning streak.