Behind
its most consistent effort of the season, the Canisius College volleyball team
defeated Iona 25-15, 25-13, 26-24 at the Koessler Athletic Center on Sunday
Afternoon. The Golden Griffins improve to 11-6 overall, 6-2 in the MAAC and 4-0
at home in conference play.
Senior
Morgan Ammons led all players with
12 kills while senior Brittany Gerde
had eight kills and zero errors on 17 attack attempts to post a .471 attack
percentage. Freshman Janelle Davis
had 30 assists while four different players had three or more blocks for the
Griffs, led by five from freshman Layne
Adams.
“That's
the best we've played this season, which came in an important early-season
match,” Canisius coach Cathy Hummel said.
“We won the first two sets, and winning in three prevented Iona from getting
some momentum as they are a very dangerous team.”
Canisius
dominated the first two sets, breaking open an 8-8 set by winning seven
consecutive points, getting three kills from Ammons during that run. The Griffs
had four runs of three points or more in the set, including a four-point run
that included two service aces from Sarah
Podlesh.
The
Griffs jumped out quickly in the second set and never looked back, winning the
opening three points and not relinquishing the lead. Canisius had five runs of
three points or more in this set and won 16 of the final 22 points to go up 2-0
in the match.
In
a close third set, that saw one lead of three points, the Golden Griffins went
up 20-17 on a kill by Adams. Iona (13-7, 5-3) responded by winning seven of the
next nine points to build a 24-22 lead. The Griffs would win the match by
winning the final four points, getting two Iona errors and kills from Gerde and
Renee Lettow.
Sarah
Wiener and Rachelle Wilson each had seven kills to lead the Gaels while Allison
Nieters had 17 digs to lead all players.
Canisius
plays two more home matches next weekend at the Koessler Athletic Center,
starting with Loyola on Saturday. Match time is set for 3 p.m.
Match Notes:
Canisius has now won four of the last five against Iona... The Griffs won two
sets by double-digits for the third time this season and for the first time in
a conference match since Nov. 10, 2007, at Saint Peter's... Canisius is now 19-7
in MAAC contests during the last three seasons when the Griffs have 10 or more
team blocks... The five blocks by Adams matched her career high from Sept. 20, against
Siena... Kaela Glenn had a career-high
11 digs.
