The Canisius College volleyball team defeated Manhattan College 25-20, 22-25, 25-13, 25-23 in the Koessler Athletic Center on Saturday afternoon to clinch a spot in the 2012 MAAC Championship (Nov. 17-18 at Fairfield University). With the win, the Golden Griffins improve to 15-10 overall and 12-3 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

Senior Samantha Good led the Godlen Griffins with 20 kills and a .571 attack percentage to go along with five blocks. Senior Logan Sulongga had 13 kills and no attack errors to post a .382 attack percentage. Senior Allyson Severyn recorded 24 digs while junior Sydney Palka had 51 assists.

 "This win is another step toward our ultimate goal of winning a conference championship," Canisius coach Cathy Hummel said. "Manhattan came in here and gave us a really good match. I feel we took their best shot and went out and won the match.

"It is always good to see your seniors play well on their last home weekend, and now we will try to send them out with a win in their last home match on Sunday afternoon."

The Griffs hit a season-high .369 on the day, starting with a .478 attack percentage in the opening set. Canisius jumped out to a 10-4 lead before Manhattan chipped away and tied the score at 14-14 on a kill from Alexa Lampasona. The Griffs would not give up the lead, scoring three straight points to go up 17-14. With the score at 21-19, Good had three straight service aces as the Griffs went on to win the first set.

Manhattan used a five-point run early in the second set to turn an 8-8 tie into a 13-8 lead and went on to even the match at one set apiece. The Griffs answered by dominating the third set, scoring six of the first seven points and never looking back. Canisius had three runs of at last four points in the set and took the set on a kill from Good.

The fourth set featured solid play from both teams as Canisius hit .314 in the set but had to overcome a .400 attack percentage from the Jaspers. Manhattan built a 13-10 lead but Canisius eventually took the lead with a four-point run, using a kill from junior Emily Elek, back-to-back service aces from junior Jessica Warner and a kill from Sulongga to go up 18-16. The Jaspers responded with four straight points to go up 20-18, but Canisius answered with two points to knot the score at 20-20. After the teams traded side-outs, a service ace from Elek and a block from Sulongga and Good put Canisius up 23-21. Each team would have a service error and a kill by Manhattan made it 24-23. The Griffs would win the match on a kill from Warner.

Mariana Furquim led Manhattan (13-15, 8-8 MAAC) with 21 kills. Lampasona had 13 kills while Sydney Volovski and Juliana Behrens each had 10 kills. Jamie Collareta had 46 assists and Kelsey Huntoon had 19 digs.

Canisius wraps up its home schedule on Sunday, when the Golden Griffins host Saint Peter's. Senior Day activities will begin at 2 p.m. with the match scheduled to start 10 minutes later.

Notes: The Griffs' previous high for attack percentage this season was .309 against Loyola on Sept. 22... The .571 attack percentage by Good is the highest of the season by any Golden Griffin and her 20 kills are also a season high... Canisius defeated Manhattan for the seventh time in the last eight years in the KAC... Sulongga had double-digit kills for sixth time this season... Severyn has at least 20 digs in each of the last four matches.