Getting at least 13 kills from three players, the Canisius College volleyball team got back in the win column with a four-set win over Manahttan at the Draddy Gymnasium on Sunday. The Golden Griffins won 23-25, 25-23, 25-17 and 25-10 to improve to 9-9 overall and 5-1 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
Sophomore Samantha Good led the Griffs with a career-high 23 kills and posted a .400 attack percentage to go along with six block assists. Junior Layne Adams hit .483 on the day and had a career-high 15 kills with one only attack error. Sophomore Emily Elek had a double-double with 13 kills and a career-high 16 digs while senior Jasmine Brennan had a career-high six block assists. Junior Janelle Davis had 39 assists and sophomore Allyson Severyn had 22 digs.
"Our struggles from Saturday's loss carried over to the first set, but after that, we were able to adjust and found success," Canisius coach Cathy Hummel said. "It wasn't a pretty win, but road wins in the conference usually aren't. We'll take it and are looking forward to coming home."
The teams played a tight first set and with the score tied at 18-18, the Griffs got back-to-back kills from Good to take a 20-18 lead. The Lady Jaspers fought back and won the final three points of the set, capped by a kill from Aurore Kullak to take the first set.
Canisius rebounded to win the second set and even the match. Manhattan (7-10, 2-4) held a 16-12 lead before the Griffs went on a 9-3 run, getting four kills from Good during the run, to take a 21-19 lead. After Manahttan tied the set at 21-21, Canisus took advantage of a Manahttan attack error and kill from Elek to go up 23-21 and eventually closed out the set on a kill from Adams
Canisius jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the third set and the Lady Jaspers would tie the set at 13-13. The Griffs then scored four straight points, capped by a block from Adams and Brennan to go up 17-13 as Canisius never looked back to go up two sets to one in the match.
Manhattan won the first three points in the fourth set and Canisius held an 8-7 lead before the Griffs won 17 of the final 20 points, including the final nine points, to close out the Lady Jaspers.
Canisius returns home for two matches in the Koessler Athletic Center next weekend. The Golden Griffins host Fairfield on Saturday, and Iona on Sunday, with match time set for 2 p.m.
Match Notes: Canisius has won the last three meetings between the teams, including two straight in Riverdale... Senior Renee Lettow had double-digit digs for the third time this season... Davis had 30-plus assists for the fifth time in 2010 and for the third time in the last four matches... Severyn had 20-plus digs for the third time in four matches... Adams set a career high for the second consecutive weekend after recording 14 kills against Loyola on Sept. 25... Good totaled 39 kills on the weekend and had six blocks for the fourth time... Brennan now has 26 blocks in the last 10 matches... Canisius allowed a season-low one service ace.
