Women's Volleyball | 9/21/2021 7:38:00 PM
PITTSFORD, NY – The St. John Fisher College women's volleyball team used 18 service aces on Tuesday night to push its winning streak to six matches after the Cardinals defeated Elmira College, 3-0, in their Empire 8 debut inside Manning and Napier Varsity Gymnasium on Bobby Wanzer Court. With the win, Fisher, which has not lost in conference play since October 20, 2018, improved to 9-3 and 1-0, respectively while the Soaring Eagles fell to 3-5 on the year and 0-1 in the conference standings.
The Cardinals jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead in the first set and forced Elmira into an early timeout after back-to-back aces from Alea Steigerwald. Fisher would push the lead to 9-3 as the frame wore on, but the Soaring Eagles remained within striking distance.
Holding a five-point cushion, Fisher took control and scored four of the set's next five points including back-to-back kills from Steigerwald and Lindsey DeBonis to open up a 15-7 edge. From there, Elmira seized the momentum and went on a 6-1 run, but was unable to match the Cardinals' power down the stretch as Fisher closed out the first with seven of the final 10 points including four kills to earn a 25-19 win.
After cruising to a 25-14 win in the second set, Fisher put the match away in the third after sprinting out to a 15-3 lead en route to a 25-9 decision.
DeBonis led Fisher with 10 kills in the win to go along with four digs while Steigerwald produced seven kills, 14 digs and four aces overall. Sydney French finished with five kills of her own while Kara Kingsbury provided six digs and five aces off the bench. Katie Leaty was credited with 28 assists and nine digs for Fisher while libero Julia Halsey contributed four digs defensively.
As a team, Fisher hit .289 after clubbing 34 kills on 76 swings while Elmira accounted for 12 kills in the loss and only 10 assists.
Fisher will look to keep its streak alive at 6 p.m. on Friday when it travels to Oneonta to take on the Hartwick College Hawks in another Empire 8 bout.