Women's Volleyball | 11/15/2019 3:25:00 PM
POTSDAM, NY – The St. John Fisher College women's volleyball team dropped its NCAA Tournament First Round match to No. 25 Wesleyan University Friday by a score of three sets to none (25-14, 25-16, 25-20). Fisher ends its season with a record of 23-11 after making its third-ever trip to the National Tournament and first since 1998.
Sophomore
Alea Steigerwald posted team-highs of nine kills and nine digs. The Penfield native, who was recently named All-Region, ended up with 501 kills on the year which breaks her own program record she set in her freshman season. Junior
Rebecca Hay earned 23 assists to finish with 999 on the season, the ninth-most in a single season in program history.
After getting into a 4-0 hole to start the match, the Cardinals rebounded with a 5-2 run to make it a one-point game. Freshman Lauren Gilbert scored three of the first five points for Fisher with two kills and a service ace. Wesleyan though would push its lead up to double-digits as the set wore on. Back-to-back Steigerwald kills kept the opening frame going but Wesleyan was able to finish it off to take a one set advantage.
The Cardinals started slow in the second set but came roaring back with a 9-2 run, their best of the day, to take a three-point edge. Steigerwald had two kills and an ace during the run while the freshman pair of Lindsey DeBonis and Elly Hepburn combined for a block at the net to make it 9-6 in favor of Fisher. However, Nationally Ranked Wesleyan responded with a run of its own to run away with the second stanza.
Down to two set to none, Hay set up freshman Sydney French for a kill to win the opening point of the third set. Fisher held a 6-5 edge after Hay sent one to Gilbert who buried the kill. Wesleyan would then take the lead and extend it all way to nine. The Cardinals would not go down without fight though with four-straight points that included a kill by Steigerwald an ace from DeBonis. Hay set up DeBonis for a point that cut the deficit to 23-19 but that would be closest they would get. Hepburn scored Fisher's final point of the season as they would fall in third by five.
Gilbert finished with eight kills and five digs while DeBonis recorded five kills and six digs. Steigerwald had one of the team's three aces on the day. The sophomore finished the year with a team-high 68 aces which ties for the seventh-most for a single season in program history. Fisher and Wesleyan each had seven total blocks with Hepburn leading the way with four.
Fisher finishes its season as Empire 8 Regular Season and Tournament Champions for the first time in program history. The Cardinals will see three members graduate in Izzy Smith, Olivia Levulis and Emily Risch.