The
Canisius College volleyball team started its conference road schedule by
carrying over its momentum from last weekend's conference matches as the Golden
Griffins defeated Rider University 25-19, 25-21, 25-16. The Golden Griffins
improve to 8-4 overall and are 3-0 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference for the first time in program history.
Two
Golden Griffins had double-doubles for the second consecutive match. Senior Morgan Ammons led Canisius with 13
kills and also had 10 digs while freshman Janelle
Davis had 26 assists and 10 digs. Sophomore Renee Lettow had nine kills and 10 digs while senior Sarah Podlesh led the team with 13
digs.
“Today
was a good bounce back performance for us after Thursday's match,” Canisius
coach Cathy Hummel said. “You can
never take conference road matches for granted, so this was a quality win.”
Canisius
broke open the first set by winning nine of 11 points, turning an 11-9 deficit
into an 18-13 lead. During the run, freshman Layne Adams and senior Brittany
Gerde each had two kills. The Broncs came back by winning three consecutive
points, but would get no closer than two points in the set.
Canisius
took control midway through the second set as well, winning eight of 11 points
to break up a 10-10 tie. The Griffs got
two kills from Ammons during the stretch, who then served four consecutive
points to give Canisius an 18-13 lead. Rider cut the Canisius lead to two
points once again, but never got any closer.
Canisius
had little trouble in the third set, only trailing after Rider won the first
point. The Griffs went on an 8-2 run, capped by a kill from Lettow to go up
19-9 and closed out the match comfortably.
Lacey
Johnson led Rider (7-6, 0-3) with 12 kills to go along with 14 digs. Kristy
Love hit .875 by recording seven kills on eight attempts. Amy Jeary led all
players with 22 digs.
Canisius
returns to the court on Sunday, when the Golden Griffins take on Loyola. Match
time is set for 2 p.m.
Match Notes:
Canisius is 4-0 in road matches this season... Canisius has won the last five
matches against Rider, including the last 11 sets... Freshman Danielle Brawn recorded her first
career kill in the match... Ammons has led Canisius or tied for the team lead in
kills for the ninth time in 2008... Davis had her fourth double-double of the
season... Canisius held Rider to an attack percentage under .130 in all three
sets... Canisius had four players with double-digit digs in back-to-back matches.