Empire 8 Champion St. John Fisher Falls To No. 9 Marietta In Opening Round of 2024 NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament

Cardinals finish 21-9; St. John Fisher won its fifth Empire 8 Championship in the last six years

St. John Fisher Athletic Communications

Women's Volleyball | 11/21/2024 10:50:00 PM

MARIETTA, OH – The St. John Fisher University women's volleyball team gave No. 9 Marrietta all it could handle but fell in four sets on Thursday night in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship at Ban Johnson Arena. 

The Cardinals (21-9) came from behind to win the first set 26-24 and nearly pulled off another comeback victory in the second set, which the Pioneers (24-1) eventually took 25-22. Marietta won the third set 25-16 and nailed down the match victory with a 25-15 win in the fourth. 

The Cardinals trailed by two points three different times at the end of the first set. And each time, they found a way to hang around, including with Marietta one point away from going ahead 1-0.

Freshman outside hitter and Empire 8 Rookie of the Year Lydia Fraser cut Fisher's deficit to one (24-23), and junior middle blocker/outside hitter Marilyn Whitcavitch slammed one of her own to tie the set at 24. The Cardinals took the lead on an attack error by Sophie Evans and clinched the victory on Fraser's sixth kill of the set. 

Fisher had never won a set in an NCAA Tournament match. The Cardinals were swept in 2019, 2021 and 2022. 

"It's one of the things I love about this team," Fisher head coach Kelly Greapentrog said. "They believe at any moment that they can win a match or a set. It doesn't matter if they are down by a point or 10 points. We have come back from some big deficits throughout the course of the season. I love the faith they had in each other, the belief that they had and their ability to come back no matter what the circumstances are." 

The Cardinals scored four quick points in the second set, but the Pioneers countered with a 6-1 run to take a 6-5 lead. From there, the two teams mostly traded the lead before the Pioneers took control at the end. After Fisher took a one-point lead (22-21) on a kill by senior middle blocker Olivia Nellis, Marietta scored four straight points to secure a 25-22 win. 

The Pioneers built comfortable leads early in the third and fourth sets en route to commanding victories. They will face Illinois Wesleyan in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at 7 p.m. on Friday. 

Fisher Notes To Know

  • Fraser set a program record for kills (16) and hitting percentage (.361) in an NCAA Tournament match. 

  • Junior libero Kiera Hartpence had four services aces, tied for the second most she's had in a match this season. 

  • Sophomore outside hitter Kaylene Noble had 11 kills, while sophomore middle blocker Ana Gutman had seven and hit .286. 

  • This season marked the seventh in which the Cardinals won 20 or more matches under Greapentrog. The Cardinals have reached the 20-win mark in three of the last four seasons. 

  • The Cardinals made the program's fourth NCAA Tournament appearance this season. 

  • Greapentrog has led Fisher to five Empire 8 titles and four NCAA Tournament appearances in the last six seasons. 

What They Said 

Senior Olivia Nellis: "I love this team – I love these girls. We fought really hard to get here and every year our goal is to win the conference and make it to the NCAAs. That's exactly what we did. I could not be prouder of the group of girls that I play with. I can't wait to see where they go in the future. We're only getting better every single year."

Junior Kiera Hartpence: "Without the friendship and bonds we have, we wouldn't have the wins that we have. We wouldn't have the resilience that we have. I have played here for three years, and by far this was my favorite season. It's so much fun to play with these girls."

ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit www.empire8.com.
 
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