Men's Volleyball Completes The Comeback And Earns A Huge Win Over Elmira

Recap, photo courtesy of St. John Fisher College

ELMIRA, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College men's volleyball team was able to complete the comeback and take down Elmira College in a non-conference match in five sets on Friday night 22-25, 17-25, 25-17, 25-23, 20-18. With the win, the Cardinals improve to 13-14 overall, while the Soaring Eagles fall to 19-10 overall in 2018.

After dropping the first two sets in the match, Fisher took back the momentum and rallied back and earned a hard-fought victory over Elmira who recently earned the number five seed in the upcoming United Volleyball Conference Tournament.

Back and forth action started off the first set, however Elmira was able to take control toward the end of the set with a 7-3 finishing run. Ben De La Cruz was able to get his impressive offensive night started early, as the outside hitter notched four of his game-high 23 kills in the opening set.

Fisher was able to take the early lead in the second set 10-9, however the Soaring Eagles were able to
rattle of two four point runs as they took the second set and a 2-0 lead in the match.

The Cardinals did not hang their heads however, Fisher fought back in the third set with some offensive firepower finishing with 10 kills and only three errors for a .438 hitting percentage. Two more De La Cruz kills helped spark a 5-0 Fisher run to open up a 12-9 lead midway through the set. The Cardinals were able to start another 5-0 run with the help of two blocks from Tyler English and Paul Hackford.

Mike Strumpfler sealed the third set with a service ace to keep Fisher alive in the match only trailing two sets to one.

Fisher kept the momentum going on the road in the fourth set, as the Cardinal offense kept its hot streak going. After a Fisher timeout, the Cardinals completed another five-point run with Kevin Cahill notching two blocks along with two more De La Cruz kills. Elmira was able to gain the lead back with a four-point run of their own, as the home team took the 22-20 lead on the scoreboard.

Another four-point Fisher run helped regain a 24-22 lead, with the help from two Joe Kenney kills. An Elmira service ace ended the fourth set, as Fisher battled back and earned a deciding fifth set.

The deciding set turned out to be a very entertaining one, as a total of 38 points were scored. After back and forth action started the set, Elmira rattled off a four-point run, and took a 10-6 lead as the teams switched sides.

Three kills from De La Cruz and one from Cahill brought the Cardinals back within one as the scoreboard read 12-11. Fisher took advantage of two Soaring Eagle errors and earned a match-point at 14-13. However, both teams did not let up and the game was all knotted up at 17 apiece.

After an Elmira kill, a clutch De La Cruz kill started a three-point run that ended with Strumpfler serving twice as the Cardinals took down Elmira 20-18 to earn a well-deserved victory.

De La Cruz's 23 kills led the way offensively for Fisher, while Kenney and Cahill each added eight kills apiece. English was a monster at the net, finishing with one block solo and additional six blocking assists, to go along with five kills.

Hackford finished the five-set match with a game-high 48 assists, while also adding five kills, three blocks, and 10 digs. Libero David Cerqua led the way with a game-high 15 digs in the exciting five set affair.