Women's Volleyball | 10/25/2019 8:55:00 PM
PITTSFORD, NY – The St. John Fisher College women's volleyball team defeated Elmira College in straight-sets (25-11, 25-19, 25-23) Friday night at Manning and Napier Varsity Gymnasium. With the win, the Cardinals clinched the Empire 8 Regular Season Title for the first time in program history and the number one seed in the conference postseason tournament.
Freshman Lauren Gilbert had a game-high 14 kills for Fisher. Junior
Rebecca Hay led the way with 33 assists while sophomore Julia Halsey recorded a team-high 14 digs. Fisher moves to 19-8 overall and a 6-0 record in league play. Elmira drops to 11-13 on the season with a 4-2 E8 record.
The Cardinals were soaring past the Soaring Eagles in the first set with a 13-4 run to start the match. Elmira was able to cut it down to an eight-point margin at 19-11, but Fisher finished it off with six-straight points to take the opening frame. Gilbert had four kills in the six-point swing.
The second stanza started out closer than the first until the Cardinals found their stride up 9-7. After Elmira gave away a point on an error, Fisher would win the next six points with Hay at serve to take a 16-7 advantage. The Soaring Eagles would not go away quietly though as they stormed back to tie it up at 18-all. Freshman Lindsey DeBonis would earn a massive kill on the following point that swung the momentum back in Fisher's favor as the Cardinals ran away with six of the next seven points to claim the set.
Elmira took its first lead of the match in the early portion of the third set. It would not hold onto it for long as the Cardinals used a 5-0 run to take a 7-5 edge. The Soaring Eagles and Fisher would go back-and-forth for a while until at 14-all, the Cardinals earned three straight points to take the lead for good. DeBonis had a kill that made it 23-21 and then earned a service ace on the following point to give Fisher match point. Hay would set up Gilbert for the final kill that ended the match.
As a team, the Cardinals hit .250 on the night. They hit .500 in the opening set with 13 kills and zero errors. At the net, freshman Sydney French had game-high four blocks.
Fisher finishes its conference slate with a home match against Hartwick at 1 p.m. on Saturday.