The Canisius College volleyball team continued its success in five-set matches in defeating Marist 19-25, 25-21, 25-23, 22-25, 15-10 at the Koessler Athletic Center on Sunday afternoon. The Golden Griffins improve to 7-3 and start 2-0 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, the first 2-0 start in the MAAC since 1995.

Senior Morgan Ammons led the Golden Griffins offensively for the second consecutive day, posting a career-high 21 kills as four Canisius players had double-digit kills. Junior Michelle Godfrey had 10 kills and just one error to hit .500 while pacing the Canisius front-row defense with eight blocks. Freshman Janelle Davis had a career-high 51 assists while senior Sarah Podlesh matched her career-high with 21 digs.

“Our team fought hard today to get this win. It was a gritty match,” Canisius coach Cathy Hummel said. “We've focused on getting a good start to our conference schedule and our two wins this weekend put us in that position.”

Marist (6-9, 1-1 MAAC) jumped out early, winning the first four points of the first set and never looking back. Canisius got within one at 19-18 on a kill from Ammons, but the Red Foxes regained control by winning the next three points en route to taking the first set.

Canisius broke open the second set with a 5-1 run that turned an 8-6 lead into a 13-7 advantage. Marist cut the Golden Griffin lead to two points on two separate occasions, but never got any closer as the Griffs evened the match after a Marist attack error.

Canisius opened up the third set almost identically to the way it did in the second set. This time the Griffs used a 6-2 run to turn their 8-6 lead into a 14-8 score. However, the Red Foxes would tie the match late, making it 23-23 on a kill by Alexandra Schultze, one of her match-high 23 kills. Canisius would win the next two points on Marist errors to take the 2-1 lead.

The Red Foxes would force the decisive fifth set by hanging on as Canisius tried to win the match with a late fourth-set run. Marist was up 20-13, but four straight points from the Griffs closed the gap to three points after a kill by freshman Layne Adams. The Griffs cut the lead to two points on four occasions, but Marist won the set on a kill by Schultze.

Playing in a fifth set for the fourth time this season, the Griffs continued to build an early lead as they went up 4-1, getting two kills and a service ace from Brittany Gerde as well as a kill from Godfrey. Canisius was up by as many as six and closed out the match on blocks from Godfrey and Davis.

Joanna Foss had 20 kills for Marist to go along with 13 digs. Dawn Jan had 56 assists and Cassie Campbell had 22 digs.

The Golden Griffins end their three-match homestand with their final non-conference game of the season when they host UMKC at the Koessler Athletic Center on Thursday. Match time is set for 3 p.m.

Match Notes: Canisius continues its best start in program history with the 7-3 overall record... Five different Golden Griffins had eight or more digs... Canisius defeated Marist for the fifth consecutive time... Canisius had double-digit blocks in back-to-back matches for the first time this season... Canisius is 4-0 in five-set matches in 2008 and has won six consecutive five-set matches dating back to last season... Canisius had season highs in kills (64), assists (57) and digs (71).