The Canisius College volleyball team dropped the last two sets as Iona defeated the Golden Griffins 16-25, 25-22, 20-25, 25-20, 15-12 in the Koessler Athletic Center on Sunday. The Golden Griffins fall to 10-10 overall and 6-2 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

Sophomore Samantha Good led all players with a match-high 19 kills and also had a .485 attack percentage to go along with a match-high six blocks. Sophomore Allyson Severyn led all players with a career-high 35 digs while junior Janelle Davis had 34 assists and eight digs. Sophomore Emily Elek added 15 kills while junior Layne Adams and senior Jasmine Brennan had four block assists apiece.

"We didn't play our best match, committing a lot of unforced errors, but you have to credit Iona for coming back today," Canisius coach Cathy Hummel said. "Win or lose, we have to stay process-oriented and not focus totally on the result. We'll put this one behind us and get back to work to get ready for heading on the road."

Canisius won the first four points in the first set and never gave up the lead, getting three kills from Good in that quick 4-0 run. Canisius broke it open with a four-point run on the serve of Sydney Palka to go up 13-4. The Gaels responded to make it 13-9, but a kill from Adams ended the five-point Iona run. The Gaels got as close as 15-12 before Canisus pulled away with four straight points en route to the 25-16 win.

The teams played a closer second set, featuring seven ties and Iona held a 22-20 lead after a kill from Kelsey Hess. An Iona attack error and kill from junior Danielle Brawn tied the set at 22-22 before Iona won the final three points to even the match.

Similar to the first set, Canisius won the first four points of the third set and never trailed en route to taking the 2-1 lead in the match. Lettow had two early kills to give Canisius the 4-0 lead. Iona cut the Canisius lead to 12-11 on a kill from Rachel Whitten, but Canisius held off the Gaels and won the set on a kill from Elek.

Iona (12-6, 6-2 MAAC) built a 15-9 lead in the fourth set before Canisius tried to fight its way back into the set. A kill from Good and block from Elek and Good made the score 19-17, but Canisius could never get closer than two points as the Gaels tied the match.

Canisius jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the fifth set on a kill from Good, and out of a timeout, Iona won four straight points - including two consecutive service aces from Whitten to go up 4-2. The Griffs responded with three straight points to go up 5-4 on back-to-back kills from Good. The Griffs were up 12-11 after another kill from Good, but Iona won four straight points to take the match.

Colleen Genett led Iona with 13 kills - one of four Iona players to have double-digit kills on the day. Alyssa Erickson led Iona with 27 assists and Allison Nieters had 26 digs. 

Canisius hits the road next weekend for two matches, starting at Rider on Saturday. Match time is set for 2 p.m.

Match Notes: Canisius moves into a two-way tie for second place in the conference standings with Iona after Niagara claimed sole possession of first place on Sunday, with a five-set win over Fairfield... Canisius lost for the first time in five meetings with Iona in the Koessler Athletic Center... Davis had 30-plus assists for the fifth time in the last eight games... Severyn's previous career high for digs was 34 at Saint Peter's on Sept. 26, 2009... Adams had four or more blocks for the seventh time this season... In the last four matches, Good is averaging 4.35 kills per set and a .409 attack percentage... Elek had double-digit kills for the fourth time in the last five matches... Brennan has 20 blocks in the last seven matches.