St. John Fisher and Nazareth to Meet in 2021 Empire 8 Women's Volleyball Championship

Women's Volleyball | 11/5/2021 6:59:46 PM

Top-seed St. John Fisher College and No. 3 seed Nazareth College will meet for the 2021 Empire 8 Women's Volleyball Championship after earning victories in the semifinal matches on Friday, November 5. St. John Fisher knocked off No. 4 seed Elmira College in three sets, while Nazareth defeated No. 2 seed Hartwick College in four sets.

Nazareth will head to St. John Fisher to take on the Cardinals for the 2021 E8 Women's Volleyball Championship Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. The two programs also met in the 2019 and 2021 Spring Empire 8 Championships, both of which were won by Fisher. St. John Fisher is attempting to win its third straight E8 crown and become the first team since Nazareth (2011-13) to win three straight league titles. The Cardinals and Golden Flyers met once earlier in 2021, with St. John Fisher earning a four set win on Oct. 19.

The winner of the 2021 Empire 8 Championship receives and automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship, which begins next weekend.

NO. 1 ST. JOHN FISHER 3, NO. 4 ELMIRA 0
The top-seeded Cardinals will play for its third straight conference title after sweeping the fourth-seeded Elmira College Soaring Eagles, 25-19, 25-12, 27-25. With the win, Fisher improved to 25-4 on the year while Elmira had its season come to an end at 8-15.

After taking the first two sets, the Cardinals looked to put the Soaring Eagles away in the third frame, but Elmira had other ideas after scoring eight of the set's first nine points to force Fisher to use one of its two timeouts. 

The break in action did little to slow Elmira's momentum as it slammed down four kills as part of a 5-1 burst to open up a 13-2 advantage. As the set wore on, Fisher would cut the gap in half with a 5-1 run of its own, but Elmira regained control and pushed its lead to 19-10 as the Cardinals used another timeout to regroup.

Facing a nine-point deficit, Fisher began to chip away and scored seven unanswered points with Alea Steigerwald at the line including two kills from Delayne Young to pull to within two points, 21-19, before the Soaring Eagles could stop the bleeding.

With the tides shifting, the Soaring Eagles stretched their lead back to four, 24-20, but the Cardinals continued their onslaught at the net and rattled off five consecutive points to take their first lead of the frame, 25-24.

Facing elimination, Elmira countered with a quick point to knot the game at 25-25, but back-to-back kills from Young and Steigerwald put an end to the threat and propelled Fisher to the title round.

Young led all players with 13 kills in the win to go along with four digs while Steigerwald, who was named the Empire 8 Player of the Year for the fourth year in a row on Wednesday, finished with 12 kills, seven digs and three aces.  Lindsey DeBonis added five kills, 12 digs and two aces of her own while Katie Leaty handed out 28 assists over three sets.  Julia Halsey finished the match with nine digs overall. 

NO. 3 NAZARETH 3, NO. 2 HARTWICK 1
Third-seeded Nazareth avenged a previous defeat Friday as the Golden Flyers knocked off second-seeded Hartwick in a semifinal match of the Empire 8 Conference Tournament. The Golden Flyers won in four sets at St. John Fisher by cores of 25-22, 25-22, 21-25, 25-19.

The victory vaulted Nazareth, 14-10 overall, while Hartwick dropped to 18-4. The Hawks defeated the Golden Flyers in a five-set regular-season match back on Sept. 25.

On Friday, the Golden Flyers got double-digit kill totals from freshmen Zoe Tylipakis and Ruth Jackson along with junior Kaylee Kelly to outpoint the Hawks. Tylipakis equaled her career-best with 14 kills, while Jackson had her best match of the season with 10 kills and four aces. Kelly had 12 kills with 10 digs. Freshman Tessa Grover added six kills, 42 assists and 11 digs.

Kelly and Tylipakis each had four kills in the opening set and Jackson had two kills and two aces. In he second set, Nazareth opened a 10-4 lead and never trailed as Tylipakis delivered five more kills and freshman Ella Kules posted two service aces.

After Hartwick claimed the third set, Nazareth posted 13 more kills to take the fourth set. Nazareth's lead grew to 10 points, 22-12, late in the set as he Golden Flyers gradually pulled away. Jackson contributed four of her kills and Kelly had two aces to lead the finish.

Other statistical highlights included 30 digs for senior libero McKenzie Hart and seven kills for junior Eva Lyko.

Saturday's match also will be a rematch of an earlier meeting in which Fisher defeated the Golden Flyers in four sets. The Golden Flyers will be shooting for their ninth E8 title and first since 2018.