Volleyball Picks Up First Win on Day Two at La Salle

The Canisius College volleyball team earned its first win of the 2009 season with a sweep of host La Salle in its final match on Saturday, winning 25-20, 25-23, 26-24. Earlier in the day, the Griffs lost to Air Force 20-25, 23-25, 21-25.

The middle hitters for the Golden Griffins (1-3) led them in the win, with the trio combining for 30 of the team's 43 kills and 10 block assists. Senior Michelle Godfrey pacing the team with 12 kills and a .440 attack percentage. Freshman Samantha Good had 11 kills and a .450 attack percentage while sophomore Layne Adams had seven kills. Sophomore Janelle Davis had 37 assists while junior Renee Lettow and freshman Allyson Severyn had 17 digs apiece.

“After a physically and emotionally draining weekend, we found a way to get a win,” Canisius coach Cathy Hummel said. “We started to learn from the first three matches. We'll look to carry this momentum into practice and next week at Oakland.”

The Griffs swept the match against La Salle by taking control late in each set. In the first set, the Griffs were up 21-19 and won four of the last six points to take the set. Canisius was down 13-7 in the second set but went on a 14-5 run to go up 21-18 on a kill by Godfrey. La Salle cut the lead to 24-23 but an error by the Explorers gave the set to the Griffs.

Canisius put the match away in a tightly-contested third set. The teams were tied at 24-24 and the Griffs used kills from Good and Lettow to pick up their first win of the season.

Canisius dropped its first match of the day to the Falcons in three sets. Air Force used a four-point run to take control of a 16-16 tie in the first set. The teams were tied at 23-23 in the second set, but the Falcons won the final two points to go up 2-0 in the match. Air Force closed out the match by winning seven of the final eight points in the third set.

Canisius returns to the court next weekend at the Golden Grizzly Invitational at Oakland University. The Griffs start play against North Texas on Sept. 5, at 4:30 p.m.

Match Notes: Severyn was named to the all-Tournament Team averaging 6.54 digs per set in the four matches… Canisius played Air Force for the first time while Canisius and La Salle met for the fifth time… Canisius now trails in the series 3-2 with La Salle… The 11 kills by Good in the win over La Salle came after she had seven in the first three matches combined… Sophomore Joanna Burt set a career high twice on the weekend, including seven kills in the match against La Salle.

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Players Mentioned

#13 Layne Adams: MH; 6' 0"; Sophomore

#24 Joanna Burt: RS; 5' 9"; Sophomore

#5 Janelle Davis: S; 5' 9"; Sophomore

#9 Michelle Godfrey: MH/RS; 6' 3"; Senior

#16 Samantha Good: MH/RS; 5' 10"; Freshman

#2 Renee Lettow: OH; 5' 10"; Junior

#18 Allyson Severyn: L; 5' 5"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#13 Layne Adams
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: MH

#24 Joanna Burt
: 5' 9"; Sophomore
: RS

#5 Janelle Davis
: 5' 9"; Sophomore
: S

#9 Michelle Godfrey
: 6' 3"; Senior
: MH/RS

#16 Samantha Good
: 5' 10"; Freshman
: MH/RS

#2 Renee Lettow
: 5' 10"; Junior
: OH

#18 Allyson Severyn
: 5' 5"; Freshman
: L