The Canisius College volleyball team starts conference play with two road victories after a four-set victory at Siena College on Sunday afternoon. The Golden Griffins won 17-25, 25-17, 25-21, 25-23 to improve to 5-7 overall and 2-0 in the MAAC. With the win, Canisius has now won eight straight regular-season matches against Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opponents and starts 2-0 in the MAAC for the third time in five seasons.

Junior Emily Elek had her second double-double of the weekend, recording a career-high 20 kills and 15 digs. Senior Samantha Good had 11 kills and five blocks while junior Roxanne Hernandez also had five blocks. Junior Sydney Palka posted a career-high 42 assists while senior Allyson Severyn had 26 digs.

"Once we settled down and remembered that we could compete with any team in the league, then we played our style of volleyball and battled with a very good Siena team," Canisius coach Cathy Hummel said. "We got another great team effort today, with different players stepping up throughout the match.

In the second set, Canisius built an early lead with a 5-1 run that included kills from three different players to go up 7-3. Siena tied the score at 16-16 and 17-17, but the Griffs scored the last eight points of the set, including two kills from Warner and Elek and two blocks from Hernandez, to take the set and even the match.  

The teams stayed close through the third set as Canisius built a 14-11 lead, but Siena came back with a 5-1 run to take a 16-15 lead. Canisius responded with a 5-1 run, including two kills from senior Logan Sulongga, to go up 20-17. The Saints scored consecutive points to cut the lead to one, but a kill from Elek started a three-point spurt that pushed Canisius to a 23-19 lead. The Griffs went up 2-1 in the match on a service ace from sophomore Emily Litwin.

Siena (6-7, 1-1 MAAC) wouldn't go quietly in the fourth set, as Canisius went up 14-9 after scoring four straight points. The Saints came back with four straight points of their own to cut the deficit to 14-13, but Canisius responded with back-to-back points to go up by three at 16-13. Siena tied the score three times, but Canisius closed out the match on three consecutive kills from Good.

Akana led all players with 24 kills. Lesli Akeo had a match-high 37 digs while Sarah Sivertson led all players with 47 assists.

Canisius starts its home schedule with two matches in the Koessler Athletic Center next weekend. The Golden Griffins open against Loyola at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Notes: Canisius has won the last three meetings between the teams in Loudonville... Canisius also started MAAC play 2-0 in 2008 and 2010... Canisius won the third set for just the second time this season... Elek is the first Canisius outside hitter with a double-double in back-to-back matches since Danielle Brawn in the 2010 MAAC Championship... Canisius has now won 24 of its last 26 sets in regular-season conference play... Hernandez had at least four blocks for the third straight match and for the seventh time this season... Elek now has double-digit kills in four straight matches.