Women's Volleyball | 11/14/2026 4:31:00 PM
PITTSFORD, NY – The top-seeded St. John Fisher women's volleyball team rode huge performances from senior middle blocker Ana Gutman, senior outside hitter Kaylene Noble and junior setter Zofia Keogh to a sweep (26-24, 25-13, 25-19) of No. 3-seeded Hartwick in the Empire 8 Conference Championship on Saturday inside Manning & Napier Varsity Gym.
The Cardinals (24-6) claimed their third consecutive Empire 8 title and seventh overall in the last eight seasons, earning a bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament for the eighth time in program history. They have won 17 consecutive matches since a Sept. 26 loss to Stevenson, the third-longest active winning streak in the country.
Gutman, named Most Valuable Player of the E8 Tournament for the second time in her career, led the Cardinals with 14.5 points, slamming 14 kills while recording the highest hitting percentage in a three-set match in program history (.875). Noble recorded 11 kills while hitting .276 and had a pair of blocks en route to 12 points, and Keogh dished out 47 assists, tallied two kills and aced a serve.
The Cardinals smashed 53 kills and hit .352 as a team. The Hawks, who ended their season 15-12 overall and lost to Fisher in the E8 title match for the second year in a row, managed just 22 kills and hit .126.
How It Happened
The Hawks gave the Cardinals all they could handle in the first set, but Fisher prevailed with a strong finish.
Hartwick had a three-point lead three different times in the frame and came within one point of winning the set, taking a 24-23 lead on an attacking error by Fisher sophomore Kalyna Dannenberg. The Cardinals rallied with three straight kills — two from Gutman and one from Dannenberg – to secure the 26-24 victory. Gutman had five kills and hit .833 in the opening frame, while Dannenberg, junior outside hitter Lydia Fraser and sophomore middle blocker Teagan Moore each had four kills. Keogh tallied 17 assists.
The Cardinals dominated the Hawks 25-13 in the second set as Noble slammed five kills while hitting .556 and Gutman added four more kills while hitting 1.000. Fisher finished off the frame on a 7-1 run that included three kills from Noble and a handful of errors by Hartwick, which hit -0.13 in the frame. The Cardinals slammed 12 kills overall and hit .360.
Fisher finished Hartwick with its best offensive set of the day, hitting .405 with 21 kills to complete the sweep with a 25-19 win.
The Cardinals went on a 6-1 run early to take an 8-4 lead and used an 8-2 surge a short time later to push their advantage to 20-13. Hartwick pulled within five, but not before senior outside hitter Emma Lawler put Fisher on the cusp of victory with a kill. Lawler slammed another kill to secure the victory moments after a Fisher error made it 24-19.
Gutman had five kills and hit .833 in the championship-sealing frame; Noble, Dannenberg and Fraser followed with four apiece. Keogh recorded 19 assists, her most in any of the three sets.
Match Notes
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The Cardinals moved to 3-0 in Empire 8 title matches against Hartwick.
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The Cardinals have won 35 consecutive matches against Empire 8 opponents since October 2024 (including regular season and postseason contests).
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The Cardinals have won nine consecutive matches in the Empire 8 Championship Tournament.
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The Cardinals now have won seven E8 titles, the second most in conference history.
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Keogh's 47 assists marked the second-most by a Fisher player in an Empire 8 Championship Tournament match.
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Keogh's 47 assists marked the second-most by a Fisher player in a three-set match in program history.
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Freshman Julianna Lucie led the Cardinals with 13 digs.
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Dannenberg had nine kills while hitting .278 and recorded 11 digs.
Up Next
The Cardinals will watch the NCAA Division III Tournament Selection Show as a team at 1 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 16.