The
Canisius College volleyball team dropped its opening two matches at Willie
Jewell's Volleyball Invitational in Charleston, S.C. on Friday. The Golden
Griffins lost in five sets (22-25, 25-22, 25-16, 21-25, 15-7) to the host Charleston Southern and fell in three sets (25-19,
25-18, 25-20) to Furman.
Charleston Southern 3, Canisius
2
Junior
Jessica Warner posted her second
straight double-double with 13 kills and 13 digs while junior Roxanne Hernandez had 12 kills and
three blocks. Senior libero Allyson
Severyn posted 18 digs while junior setter Sydney Palka recorded 38 assists.
"We
had an opportunity to get a win against a physical team today, and we just got
outworked," Canisius coach Cathy Hummel
said. "I was very disappointed in our lack of discipline, and that is not the
brand of volleyball I expect to see from our team."
Canisius
took the first set as the Griffs built an early 12-6 lead after a kill from
Warner. The Buccaneers cut the Canisius lead to one point on six separate
occasions, but the Griffs never relinquished the advantage. Canisius closed out
the set on a kill from senior Logan
Sulongga.
After
Charleston Southern won the next two sets, the Griffs forced a decisive fifth
set with a fourth-set win. Canisius built a lead of 20-14 after a Charleston Southern attack error. The Buccaneers
didn't concede the set quietly, winning the next seven points to take a 21-20 lead. Canisius would win the final
five points of the set, a stretch that included back-to-back kills from junior Emily Elek, to force the fifth set.
Charleston
Southern took control early in the fifth set and eventually closed out the
match. Canisius went up 2-1 after a kill and a service ace from Warner, but the
Buccaneers won nine straight points to go up 10-2 and eventually win the set on
the 16th service error of the day for the Griffs.
Furman 3, Canisius 0
Sulongga,
Warner and sophomore Olivia Chrzanowski
led Canisius with seven kills apiece against Furman. Freshman Grace Streicher had 17 assists in
splitting time with Palka at the setter position. Severyn recorded 14 digs
while Elek had four blocks.
"I
felt our team bounced back against a really competitive team," Hummel said. "We
had some lapses in attention to detail, and a team like Furman really takes
advantage of that. While it might not be apparent in the score, our effort in
this match was much improved from our first match of the day."
In
the first set, Furman broke open at 12-12 tie by winning six of seven points to
build a 19-13 lead. The Griffs would cut the deficit to three points on two
occasions, but could get no closer as the Paladins won the final three points
of the set. After Canisius won the first point in the second set, the Griffs
would never lead the rest of the set as Furman went on a 6-1 run. The Griffs
trimmed the Paladins' lead to one point twice, including after back-to-back kills
from Sulongga to make it 18-17, but Furman scored seven of the final eight
points to take the second set.
Canisius
jumped out to a quick 4-2 lead in the third set after a kill from Elek, but
Furman won seven straight points to build a 9-4 lead. The Griffs got within two
points at a number of times in the match, including after a block from Elek to make
it 21-19, but the Paladins took four of the last five points to complete the
sweep.
Canisius
plays two matches on the second and final day of the tournament on Saturday.
Canisius plays Mercer at 9 a.m. and USC Upstate at 4:30 p.m.
Notes: Warner
is the first Golden Griffin with back-to-back double-doubles in kills and digs
since Danielle Brawn in the 2010 MAAC Championship... Hernandez had double-digit
kills in three straight matches after posting 10 or more kills in one match
during her first two years combined... The matches against Furman and Charleston
Southern were the first in program history.
