The Canisius College volleyball team opened its 2008 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in dramatic fashion, rallying for a 3-2 victory over defending league champion Siena at the Koessler Athletic Center Saturday afternoon. The Golden Griffins won 20-25, 22-25, 25-21, 25-20, 15-10 to produce a victory after losing the first two sets for the third time this season.

Senior Morgan Ammons led Canisius (6-3, 1-0 MAAC) with 16 kills while sophomore Renee Lettow had 15 kills. Freshman Janelle Davis had 44 assists while junior Michelle Godfrey had nine kills and tied with Davis for the team high with six blocks.

“It's an understatement to say today is the biggest victory of the season for our team. It's a great win for our senior class, which has worked so hard to get a win over Siena.” Canisius coach Cathy Hummel said. “We've taken the experience we gained during our non-conference schedule of coming from behind and used that today. Once again, we got contributions from a number of players and our bench production made this another team effort.”

The Saints took the opening two sets as they got 23 kills in those two sets from the duo of Kelly Hummel and Burgandy McCurty. Siena took command of the first set with an 11-3 run that turned a 13-11 Canisius lead into a 22-16 Siena advantage. The Saints would close out the set on a kill from Hummel, who had three in the final six points.

In the second set, Siena held a 17-13 lead before the Griffs used a 7-2 run to take a 20-19 lead off a kill from Godfrey. The teams split the next two points before the Saints won five of the final six points to take the 2-0 lead.

Canisius built a big lead midway through the third set and hung on late to cut the Siena lead in half. The Griffs led by as many as nine points, going up 20-11 on an ace by freshman Danielle Brawn. Siena chipped away at the Canisius lead getting as close as two at 23-21, but the Griffs won the next two points ? getting kills from Brittany Gerde and Lettow ? to win the third set.

The Griffs methodically built a 16-9 lead in the fourth set, winning at least four consecutive points on three different occasions. Similar to the third set, Siena would get within two, making it 18-16, but the Griffs responded by winning four of the next five points to push their lead to five points. A kill by Ammons forced the decisive fifth set.

Canisius carried over that formula from sets three and four to win the fifth set. With the score tied at 3-3, the Griffs won five consecutive points, which included consecutive blocks from Godfrey and Davis. Siena never got closer than four the rest of the way as the Griffs opened their conference schedule with a win for the second consecutive season.

McCurty led the Saints with 27 kills, posting a .412 hitting percentage. Hummel had 15 kills while April London posted 54 assists.

The Golden Griffins return to the court on Sunday afternoon, when they host Marist at the Koessler Athletic Center. Match time is set for 2 p.m. At intermission, the Canisius College athletic department will honor the Golden Griffin synchronized swimming team on its top-three finish at the 2008 U.S. Collegiate Nationals.

Match Notes: The 6-3 start by the Griffs is the best nine-match start in program history... The win by the Griffs end a six-match winning streak by the Saints in the series... Canisius opens its home schedule with a victory for the first time since 2005... Six different Golden Griffins posted six digs, led by nine from junior Kaela Glenn... Nine of the 11 Canisius blocks came in the final three sets.