Women's Volleyball | 9/24/2021 8:26:00 PM
ONEONTA, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College women's volleyball team remained atop the Empire 8 standings on Friday after holding off Hartwick College in a five-set thriller inside Lambros Arena. With the win, Fisher, which has now won its last seven matches, improved to 10-3 on the year and 2-0 in the league while the Hawks closed out the evening at 8-2, 0-1, respectively.
It was a back-and-forth affair from the get-go with both teams swapping sets to set up a winner-take-all showdown in the fifth and deciding frame.
The Cardinals got off to a quick start with five of the first seven points including three straight kills from sophomore Gracie Jacob. Trailing 5-2, Hartwick would cut the gap to two points, 9-7, but the Cardinals regained the momentum and rattled off four straight points including back-to-back blocks at the net to forge ahead, 13-7.
With the set nearly in hand, Fisher's hold began to wane as Hartwick answered with four consecutive points of its own to climb to within 13-11, but Fisher regained its composure with Lindsey DeBonis and Jacob each hammering home a kill to seal the win.
Jacob had a career night after producing 21 kills and seven digs in the win. Alea Steigerwald added 16 kills and 14 digs of her own while DeBonis finished with a double-double including 15 kills and a career-best 25 digs. Julia Halsey added 23 digs at the libero position while Katie Leaty handed out a career-high 53 helpers in all.
As a team, Fisher accounted for a season-high 63 kills and had 94 digs defensively.
Collette Maloney led host Hartwick with 11 kills, while Staecia Silofau added 19 digs.
The Cardinals will look to make it eight wins in a row at 2 p.m. on Saturday when they travel to Russell Sage to take on the Gators in an Empire 8 pairing in Troy.