The
Canisius volleyball team ended the regular-season with a three-set loss at Fairfield
University on Sunday afternoon. The Golden Griffins fell 26-24, 25-16 and 25-16,
finishing the regular season with a 16-12 overall record and 13-5 record in
conference play. The 13 league wins stand as the second-most in program
history.
Canisius
will be the No. 3 seed in next weekend's MAAC Championship at Fairfield
University. The Golden Griffins will face No. 2 seed Siena in the second
semifinal, with match time at Alumni Hall set for 4 p.m.
Senior
Samantha Good led the Golden
Griffins with 10 kills. Junior Roxanne
Hernandez and senior Logan Sulongga
each had seven kills with Hernandez hitting .417 and Sulongga hitting .316.
Junior Sydney Palka had 12 assists
while senior Allyson Severyn and
junior Emily Elek each had 12 digs.
"We
aren't pleased by the outcome of this weekend's matches, but I am pleased with
the way our team has stuck to being process-oriented this season," Canisius
coach Cathy Hummel said. We are
looking forward to the conference tournament next weekend, where the slate is
wiped clean for all four teams and everyone has a 0-0 record."
The
teams played a very tight first set, with neither team holding more than a
two-point lead at any junction. The Griffs went up 15-14 after kills from
freshman Rachel Kline and Hernandez
along with a Fairfield error. Fairfield would eventually go up 23-21, but the
Griffs won the next three points, getting three straight Fairfield errors to
earn a set point. A kill by Hayley Moyer allowed the Stags to fight off the set
point. Fairfield then used back-to-back kills from Brianna Dixion to win the
set.
Canisius
trailed 12-10 in the second set when Fairfield won three straight points and
extended that stretch to a 7-2 run to take control at 19-12. Canisius could
never get closer than five points the rest of the set. In the third set, the
Stags once again broke it open midway through, scoring five straight points to
extend a 12-10 lead into a 17-10 advantage. The Griffs cut the deficit to 20-15
after a solo block from Good, but Fairfield scored five of the last six points
to close out the match.
Dixion
led Fairfield (20-8, 15-3 MAAC) with 18 kills and a .429 attack percentage as
the Stags won their eighth straight match. Kara Reis had a match-high 23 digs
while Rachel Romansky had 39 assists as Fairfield hit .301 on the day.
Notes: Fairfield
and Canisius split the season series for the first time since the 2009 season...
The program record for conference wins is 14, which came during the 2006
season... Good had double-digit kills for the fifth straight match. The senior
hit .369 in conference play, the highest percentage by a Golden Griffin since
Mary Boller hit .372 in 2006... Sulongga hit .300 or better for the third time in
the last four matches... Elek had double-digit digs for the second straight match
and 10th time this season... Severyn finished the regular season with
double-digit digs in all 28 matches and now has 10 or more digs in 40 straight
matches and 110 matches in her career.
