UTICA, NY - The Utica University volleyball team fell to St. John Fisher University 3-0 on Friday.
 
During the first set, Utica was on the defensive much of the time as the Cardinals relied on their offense to dictate the pace for the first set. St. John Fisher was able to total 11 kills and force the Pioneers into seven errors. However, Utica put up a fight and had some long rallies yet could not overcome the Cardinal offense. St. John Fisher would win the first set 25-12 and gain a 1-0 advantage in the match.
 
The second set proved to be the best set by the Pioneers as they had some impressive kills and were able to do a great job of extending the play. Utica played its best defense of the match and was able to limit its errors to just two, yet the Cardinal offense continued to find the holes in the defense. The Cardinals would win the second set 25-13 and a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
Entering the third set the Pioneers used the crowd energy to have a faster start. Utica would have a team best five kills and limited the Cardinals to their match low 10 kills. The Pioneers left it all on the floor as they were constantly diving and extending the play whenever they could. Utica would feed off of the crowd energy however, could not muster enough scoring as the Cardinals would take the set 25-12 and win the match 3-0.
 
The Pioneers played very balanced today and Eleanor Cepiel (West Sand Lake, NY/Academy of Holy Names) amassed five kills followed by Brianna Woods (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) (three) and Madison Maggiore (Orangeburg, NY/Tappan Zee) (one). Maggiore and McKenna LaPorte (Liverpool, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse) each had an ace while Maggiore led the team in assists with three. Defensively, Cepiel paved the way with 12 digs followed by Lauren Jones (West Winfield, NY/Mount Markham ) (six), and Krystell Pappas (Owensboro, KY/Owensboro) (five).
 
Utica (8-6, 0-1 Empire 8) will continue its short homestand and host Nazareth College on Saturday at 3 p.m. to continue Empire 8 Conference play.