STAFF WRITER
KRISTI BRADLEY

The St. John Fisher College  volleyball team’s season came to a close at Saturday’s semifinals of the Empire 8 Conference Championships after they lost to RIT in four matches. 

“The game against RIT was a tough loss that was hard for not only the seniors but the whole team,” senior Kristi Pallotta said. “I know that the entire team wanted that game badly and it was tough to go home with out a win, but none of us can be upset because we all left everything we had on the court.”

Fisher came into the tournament after earning the fourth seed in the final four.  RIT was ranked first.  The girls lost the first match 23-30 and had to dig themselves out of a hole from there to come back and try to win three.  Match two saw Fisher pull off an exciting win by a large margin of 30-20.  Key kills by sophomore Alyssa Ziobrowski and Pallotta along with tough digs by senior Colleen Helak helped lead the team.  Going into the third match tied proved to be too much pressure for the Cardinals as they lost 23-30.  The fourth and determining match would see Fisher bow out of the tournament with a loss of 23-30.

Ziobrowski led her team with 16 kills while Pallotta tallied 12 and sophomore Jenna Engel eight. Junior Hannah Cordes and senior Tricia Hammerl also contributed with five kills each.  Cordes also racked up 33 assists in the game.  Many of the girls added to the digs column, including Helak who totaled a team high 28 digs.  Close behind were Pallotta and Cordes with 17, Engel and freshman Marissa Kamholtz with 12 and freshman Jenna Waldron with 11. 

The volleyball team finished with an overall record of 11-18. 

“As a team we had a rough season,” junior Mary Beth Dillon said. “We finished decently but there were many injuries throughout the season that hurt us.  We were not totally healthy until the last couple weeks.  With the circumstances, I think we did pretty well.” 

Pallotta agreed that the injuries took their toll on the team’s morale. “It hurt us because we were really trying to find a rhythm when different girls were hurt but at the same time it really helped players develop. It gave a lot of players the opportunity to play more then one position which made our team more versatile in the end.  It was a season of growth.”
Pallotta led the team with both her talent on the court and her personality off the court.  She ended the season with 378 digs and 246 kills. 

“The future of Fisher volleyball looks great, especially seeing that even though the team lost three seniors, there are so many underclassmen that are willing to take over and do better then Fisher volleyball ever has,” she said. “It will be fun to come back and watch these girls play as they develop into awesome players.” 

Hammerl and Helak also contributed a great deal to the team’s success.  Hammerl finished with 146 kills while Helak totaled 373 digs. 

There is plenty of underclassman to keep an eye on for next season. Ziobrowski led the team with 285 kills.  Cordes carried the setting department and racked up 616 assists on the season.  Kamholtz also saw time at the setting position and totaled 220 assists.  Engel totaled 170 digs and 185 kills and Waldron picked up 212 digs.

It will be up to these players to carry on the team and to build on the success of the 2006 squad in the future.

Email address: kab01720@sjfc.edu