Senior Sarah Zelko (Elmira, NY/Horseheads) had 33 assists, nine digs and two aces for The College at Brockport Volleyball team but it was not enough as St. John Fisher handed the Golden Eagles a 3-1 loss Wednesday night on Senior Night at the Jim and John Vlogianitis Gymnasium in Brockport.
Zelko and fellow senior Nicole Jones (West Charleton, NY/Galway) were honored prior to the start of the match in recognition of their final home match as Golden Eagles.
The Cardinals (7-19) won the first two sets 25-16 and 25-20 before Brockport (6-22) took the third set 25-19. In the fourth set, each team had set point opportunities but two late points by the Cardinals gave St. John Fisher a close 29-27 victory in the set and completed the 3-1 match victory.
In the first set, Brockport jumped out to an early 3-1 lead but St. John Fisher answered with five straight points and put together a 14-4 run to take a 15-7 lead. The teams traded points through the middle of the set but the Cardinals scored three straight for a 23-13 lead late and scored the final two points for the 25-16 win.
In the second set, Brockport had another early lead scoring the first five points of the set. The Cardinals battled back to tie the score at 8-8 but Brockport rallied for five consecutive points later in the set to take a 19-13 lead. St. John Fisher scored 10 of the next 11 points to forge ahead 23-20 and held on for the 25-21 win and a 2-0 sets advantage in the match.
In the third set, the Golden Eagles held the early advantage again and used a decisive 7-0 run midway through the set for a 17-11 lead. The teams traded points down the stretch but the Cardinals could not close the gap dropping a 25-19 final set score,
In the fourth set, Brockport led 5-1 but the set was tied at 7-7 just a few minutes later and stayed close for a majority of the next several points. Brockport scored 6-of-8 points to lead 17-12 but a late five-point rally by the Cardinals tied the score at 18-18. After a 3-1 rally, Brockport led 21-19 but St. John Fisher score four critical points later to take a 23-21 lead. A kill by junior Hannalee Fordyce (Amityville, NY/Copiague) knotted the score at 23-23 and the teams traded points until it was 27-27 and the Cardinals scored the final two points of the set for the victory and to cap the 3-1 win.
Fordyce led the way with 14 kills, while Jaime Snyder (Elmira, NY/Thomas Edison) added 12 kills and Jessica Senek (Ransomville, NY/Wilson) chipped in 10 kills. Zelko and Snyder had nine digs each and Chelsea Ross (Endwell, NY/Maine-Endwell) added eight digs.
