Women's Volleyball | 10/19/2021 9:30:00 PM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College women's volleyball team inched one step closer to clinching the Empire 8 Regular Season Championship after defeating rival Nazareth College in four sets on Tuesday night inside Kidera Gymnasium. With the win, Fisher, which has now won 16 of its last 17 matches, improved to 19-4 overall and remained unbeaten in league play at 6-0 while the Golden Flyers fell to 11-9 on the season and 4-2 in the Empire 8 standings.
After swapping the first two sets, Fisher vaulted to an early 3-1 lead in the third frame behind back-to-back kills from Alea Steigerwald. The advantage remained in Fisher's hands and would grow to as many as five points, 17-12, before a 6-0 run by Nazareth erased the deficit and made it 18-17 in the home team's favor.
Trailing for the first time in the set, Fisher responded and produced three unanswered points including two more kills by Steigerwald to forge ahead, 24-23, forcing Nazareth to call a timeout. From there, the Golden Flyers would battle back to tie the set twice, but a service error and a kill from Lindsey DeBonis pushed the count in Fisher's favor, 27-25.
Leading by two sets heading into the fourth, the Cardinals played from behind for the first half of the frame as Nazareth took control early and owned an 11-7 edge. Down by four and with momentum favoring the home team, Fisher regained its footing and rattled off three kills as part of a larger 7-0 burst to hold a three-point cushion, 14-11.
The Cardinals' lead increased to as many as five points before the Golden Flyers stopped the bleeding with a 6-1 run to knot things up at 23-23. As the set wore on, Fisher proved to be too much at the net with Sydney French and Delayne Young each hammering home a kill as Fisher closed out the match behind a 27-25 win.
Steigerwald, who was named the Empire 8 Player of the Week on Monday, finished with her 11th double-double of the year behind a game-high 17 kills and 14 digs. Gracie Jacob added 13 kills in the win while DeBonis accounted for 10 kills and 14 digs of her own. Olivia Nellis was credited with six kills and three blocks while Katie Leaty doled out 44 assists.
The Cardinals will look to clinch home court advantage throughout the Empire 8 Championship at 6 p.m. on Friday when they host Keuka College inside Manning and Napier Varsity Gymnasium on Bobby Wanzer Court.