Fisher Rallies to Beat Elmira

Fisher Rallies to Beat Elmira

Bookmark and Share

Houghton Sweeps Pitt-Bradford; Naz Sweeps Fredonia


St. John Fisher 3, Elmira 2 (Box Score)
The St. John Fisher College volleyball team overcame a two set deficit, winning the final three sets to defeat the Elmira College Soaring Eagles 3-2 Wednesday night at Bobby Wanzer Court.

With the win, Fisher improves to 8-6 and 2-0 in the conference standings, while previously undefeated drops to 8-1 overall and 1-1 in conference play.

The Soaring Eagles cruised to a 2-0 lead after taking the first sets by identical scores (25-21), but the Cardinals rallied, sprinting to an early lead en route to a 25-17 win to force a pivotal fourth.

In the fourth, Fisher found itself in a late hole, trailing the Soaring Eagles 21-19, but the Cardinals went on to score six of the set's final seven points to send it to the deciding frame.

In the fifth and deciding set, the Cardinals were first to strike as Erin Crandall notched three quick points on the strength of two service aces. Elmira battled back, taking an 8-7 lead before the momentum once again swung towards the Cardinals.  Fisher took a 13-10 lead, forcing Elmira to call a timeout to try and regroup, but it was too little too late as the Cardinals held on to hand Elmira its first loss of the season.

Megan Miller notched 12 kills to go along with five digs, while Rahchael Kline recorded nine kills and two aces.  Mandi Mereness had seven kills Ali Mann and Erica Stickler paced Fisher's offense with 17 and 18 assists, respectively.   


Nazareth 3, Fredonia 0 (Box Score)
Freshman Cady Messmer clinched Nazareth's three-set victory with a service ace to lift the Golden Flyers over the Blue Devils 32-30 in the third set. Nazareth won the first two sets by the scores of 25-18 and 25-20. Classmate Madi Wickens amassed a match-high 34 assists and four aces in addition to 12 digs.

Junior Kassandra Buseck tallied a match-high 12 kills on 34 attempts. Buseck had only two hitting errors. Buseck had seven of her kills in the third set. Wickens distributed the ball evenly as four players recorded at least 20 attempts. Juniors Maria Allocco and Chelsea Beecher had nine kills and eight kills, respectively. Allocco tallied a set-high five kills in the first set to help provide Nazareth with the early advantage. Messmer finished with five kills, and sophomore Jennifer Hicks added three kills. Junior Katherine Race and freshman Sarah McMahon chipped in one kill apiece. As a team, Nazareth finished with a .146 hitting percentage.

Defensively, freshman Maureen Thayer accumulated a match-high 27 digs, including 13 in the final set, to thwart the Blue Devils' attacks. Wickens and Beecher totaled another 22 digs. In addition to her offensive contributions, Buseck added a solo block and three assisted blocks at the net. Nazareth's stingy defense held Fredonia to an average hitting percentage of .084 during the match. In the first two sets, the Blue Devils had a hitting percentage of .000.


Houghton 3, Pitt-Bradford (Box Score)
The Houghton Volleyball team advances their season to 7-1 after a 3-0 victory over the Panthers of Pittsburgh-Bradford on Wednesday.

The Highlander's defensive game was stellar with 23 digs by Laurel Wroblicky and 12 digs by Hattie BurgherJessica Hayner, who played for injured Alyssa Quimby, also contributed with an impressive 12 digs and 1 assist.

Offensively, Burgher had 16 kills, giving her a double-double. Jaime Green had 33 assists, 3 kills, and 1 ace. Green just missed a double-double with 9 digs.


New Paltz 3, Stevens 1 (Box Score)
The Stevens Institute of Technology women's volleyball team suffered its first loss of the season to SUNY New Paltz on Wednesday evening at Canavan Arena in four sets. With the four-set defeat, Stevens is now 12-1 on the season, while New Paltz improves to 9-5.

The Ducks won the first set, 25-22, but fell in the next three, 25-23, 25-18, 25-12, to a well-rounded New Paltz squad. Stevens struggled offensively, hitting just .079 in the match and allowed 11 service aces to the Hawks. New Paltz eclipsed double-digit kills in all four sets, while Stevens only met that mark once.
 
Freshman Mary Tobin was the lone Duck to notch 10-plus kills with 11 and added six digs. Senior Samantha Gates handed out 23 assists, while junior Kirsten Salmins posted a team-best 19 digs.

Senior Mary Caulson and freshman Christina Sciarra each added four kills. Caulson also chipped in 12 digs.
 
Sophomore Annemarie Thomas contributed six kills, while classmate Catie Shelton tallied 11 digs.


Oswego 3, Utica 0 (Box Score)
The Utica College volleyball team dropped its fourth straight contest as it fell to Oswego State Wednesday evening at the Clark Athletic Center.  The Pioneers lost in straight sets, 16-25, 13-25, 16-25.

Cassandra Manzer had a team-high six kills, while Lora Allen led the squad with 11 assists, and Briona Enny had 12 digs.  Freshman Brandi Blaszak helped out with five kills and one block, while Laura Homer-Gunther, Enny, Ashley Jones and Hayley Strife chipped in with two kills each.  Madison BayerLeah KazalskiChelsea LauriaLiz SaccoAlyssa Nicotera, and Carly Lonczak also registered kills on the evening.