Cardinals eliminated by Ducks
By Ricky Fabiszewski
Last Updated:3:44 PM EST 11/20/09 Section: Sports
The St. John Fisher College women's volleyball team saw their Empire 8 title aspirations come to an end last Saturday, Nov. 7th, losing to top-seeded Stevens Institute of Technology in the semifinal round of the E8 Championships by a score of 3-1.
The Cardinals came into the match having just suffered a loss to the University of Rochester to end their regular season. Prior to the loss, however, they had won their previous 11 matches. The Ducks came into the match having won 10 of their last 12.
Fisher (20-19, 5-3) was the number four seed in the tournament, and Stevens (26-10, 8-0) entered as the top seed. Fisher started off fast and was in front for most of the first set, en route to a 25-20 win to take a 1-0 lead.
"Coming in as the four seed we really didn't have anything to lose, and that's how we played," sophomore Becca Smith said.
After that though, it was all Stevens. They started the second set with a 11-4 run and never looked back. They finished the second set on a 10-1 run and won in convincing fashion, 25-15.
"We started strong but we lost our intensity in the second set," junior Sydney Kandefer said. "Volleyball is a game of ups and downs, and we just hit a down in the second set."
The crucial third set went much the same way, with Stevens in command throughout. Fisher made it close with a run coming out of a timeout, but it proved to be not enough. The Ducks never led by less than four points, and they took the set by a score of 25-19.
In the fourth and ultimately final set, the Cardinals started out well, but a 9-2 run by Stevens put the Cardinals in a hole that they would never climb out of. Stevens applied pressure throughout, and finished the set and match with a decisive 25-14 victory.
The Cardinals were led by Kandefer who had 11 kills and eight digs, Smith who tallied eight kills and 11 digs, and junior Brittany Rowan who added seven kills and three digs. Senior Elaina Braun also added 26 assists in the losing effort.
Leading the way for the Ducks was E8 player of the year Sarah Byrne, who recorded 12 kills and 10 digs.
Also contributing to the win for Stevens was junior Sara Budar who had 38 assists, and freshman Maggie Kowalska who tallied 10 kills.
The win pushed Stevens' winning streak against conference opponents to 63, dating back to 2004. They then defeated Ithaca by a score of 3-0 to clinch their third conference title in a row.
The loss sent the Cardinals to the ECAC tournament, where they beat Medaille College in their quarterfinals match, 3-1, but fell to Elmira College in the semifinals by a score of 3-1, ending their 2009 campaign.
"I'm really proud of our team because of the way we bounced back from a bad start. We were under .500 and could have given up halfway through the season, but we kept fighting," Kandefer said.
"We really started playing as a team the second half of the season, and it showed," Smith said.
rrf00496@sjfc.edu
The Cardinals came into the match having just suffered a loss to the University of Rochester to end their regular season. Prior to the loss, however, they had won their previous 11 matches. The Ducks came into the match having won 10 of their last 12.
Fisher (20-19, 5-3) was the number four seed in the tournament, and Stevens (26-10, 8-0) entered as the top seed. Fisher started off fast and was in front for most of the first set, en route to a 25-20 win to take a 1-0 lead.
"Coming in as the four seed we really didn't have anything to lose, and that's how we played," sophomore Becca Smith said.
After that though, it was all Stevens. They started the second set with a 11-4 run and never looked back. They finished the second set on a 10-1 run and won in convincing fashion, 25-15.
"We started strong but we lost our intensity in the second set," junior Sydney Kandefer said. "Volleyball is a game of ups and downs, and we just hit a down in the second set."
The crucial third set went much the same way, with Stevens in command throughout. Fisher made it close with a run coming out of a timeout, but it proved to be not enough. The Ducks never led by less than four points, and they took the set by a score of 25-19.
In the fourth and ultimately final set, the Cardinals started out well, but a 9-2 run by Stevens put the Cardinals in a hole that they would never climb out of. Stevens applied pressure throughout, and finished the set and match with a decisive 25-14 victory.
The Cardinals were led by Kandefer who had 11 kills and eight digs, Smith who tallied eight kills and 11 digs, and junior Brittany Rowan who added seven kills and three digs. Senior Elaina Braun also added 26 assists in the losing effort.
Leading the way for the Ducks was E8 player of the year Sarah Byrne, who recorded 12 kills and 10 digs.
Also contributing to the win for Stevens was junior Sara Budar who had 38 assists, and freshman Maggie Kowalska who tallied 10 kills.
The win pushed Stevens' winning streak against conference opponents to 63, dating back to 2004. They then defeated Ithaca by a score of 3-0 to clinch their third conference title in a row.
The loss sent the Cardinals to the ECAC tournament, where they beat Medaille College in their quarterfinals match, 3-1, but fell to Elmira College in the semifinals by a score of 3-1, ending their 2009 campaign.
"I'm really proud of our team because of the way we bounced back from a bad start. We were under .500 and could have given up halfway through the season, but we kept fighting," Kandefer said.
"We really started playing as a team the second half of the season, and it showed," Smith said.
rrf00496@sjfc.edu
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