AMHERST, N.Y. - The Canisius College volleyball team dropped its first two matches of the 2012 season at the UB Invitational at Alumni Arena on Friday afternoon. The Golden Griffins lost 23-25, 25-19, 25-17, 25-18 to the host University at Buffalo and then lost to Oral Roberts 25-16, 25-18, 28-26.

"We had two matches against pretty competitive teams, and we are struggling to find some chemistry on the court," Canisius coach Cathy Hummel said. "We need to get out of our comfort zone to make in-game adjustments that will help us find ways to win."

Buffalo 3, Canisius 1

The Griffs took their first lead of the match, building a 14-12 advantage after a kill from sophomore Olivia Chrzanowski and a service ace from junior Emily Elek. The Bulls responded with a 5-1 run but Canisius came back with six straight points, including a back-row kill from Elek and a block from Chrzanowski and senior Samantha Good, to take a 21-17 lead. Canisius held a 23-21 lead after a Buffalo service error and gained set point after a Buffalo attack error on a point kept alive by a diving dig from freshman Jordan Tylec. A Buffalo service error gave the first set to the Griffs.

Canisius built a 9-3 lead in the second set, getting kills on five of its first 10 swings of the set. The Bulls came back and tied the set with six straight points to make it 9-9, a run ended by a kill from Chrzanowski. That six-point run started a 15-4 spurt for Buffalo as the Bulls would go on to even the match at one set apiece.  

In the third set, Buffalo built an 11-6 lead, but Canisius came back with three straight points. During that quick spurt, the Griffs used two blocks from Elek and a service ace from Good to cut the deficit to two. Canisius trimmed the Buffalo lead to one point on two separate occasions but could never come all the way back in the set as the Bulls went up 2-1 in the match.

In the fourth set, Buffalo went up 8-2 and Canisius tied the match with six straight points, capped by a block from freshmen Lauren Siebert and Grace Streicher. Buffalo would then pull away with a 12-3 run, putting the Bulls up by nine and eventually giving them the match.

Chrzanowski led Canisius with 11 kills against Buffalo while senior libero Allyson Severyn had 25 digs. Elek added eight kills, 10 digs and three blocks while junior Roxanne Hernandez had five kills on nine attack attempts to go along with four blocks. Junior Sydney Palka had 23 assists.

Oral Roberts 3, Canisius 0

In the opening set, a kill from Good and a block from Hernandez and Palka tied the first set at 8-8. Oral Roberts then three straight and 10 of the next 14 points to build a 18-12 lead en route to winning the first set.

Canisius trailed 9-5 in the first set before using a 5-1 run to even the score at 10-10, getting two kills from Hernandez and a block from the junior middle blocker during the spurt. The Golden Eagles regained the advantage with five straight points before a kill from Siebert halted the run. After a block from Siebert and freshman Rachel Kline and another kill from Siebert made it 16-14, the Golden Eagles scored three straight to push the lead back to five at 19-14 and eventually go up 2-0 in the match.

The teams stayed close early in the third set, before four straight points that included two solo blocks from junior Jessica Warner, put the Griffs up 14-10. The Griffs would push the lead to 18-12 before Oral Roberts came back with six straight points, tying the score at 18-18. Back-to-back kills from Chrzanowski halted the Golden Eagles' run but Oral Roberts answered with two straight points to knot it at 20-20. Oral Roberts built a 24-22 lead, but the Griffs fought off two match points to force extra points. A kill from Hernandez gave Canisius a set point but Oral Roberts won two straight points, and the Griffs fought off their third match point. Oral Roberts would close out the match on their fourth match point.

Hernandez matched her career high with 11 kills in the match against Oral Roberts while hitting .429 and recording four blocks. Severyn added 10 digs while Palka had 18 assists and nine digs.

Canisius concludes play in the UB Invitational on Saturday afternoon, when the Golden Griffins take on San Jose State. Match time at Alumni Arena is set for 2:30 p.m.

Notes: Canisius dropped its season opener for the first time in the last three years... Canisius and Buffalo have split the last six meetings... Canisius and Oral Roberts met for the first time in program history... Dating back to last season, Hernandez is hitting .372 in her last 14 appearances... Severyn has recorded double-digit digs 83 times in her career... Hernandez also had 11 kills against Fairfield on Oct. 23, 2011.