The
Canisius College volleyball team won its fifth straight match with a three-set
sweep of Rider University in the Koessler Athletic Center on Sunday afternoon.
The Golden Griffins won 25-17, 25-20 and 25-23 to even their record at 7-7 on
the season and improve to 4-0 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
Junior
Jessica Warner led Canisius with 10
kills while junior Sydney Palka had
a match-high 34 assists and senior Allyson
Severyn had a match-high 27 digs. Junior Roxanne Hernandez had five kills on six attack attempts while Freshman Lauren Siebert and
junior Olivia Chrzanowski also had
five kills apiece.
"This is as good of a Rider team as we have
seen in recent years, and they were a tough opponent today," Canisius coach Cathy Hummel said. "We stayed in that
one point at a time mentality, especially in the third set, and our team mounted
a big comeback to finish off a successful weekend."
Rider
(6-6, 0-3 MAAC) jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the first set before Siebert
sparked the Griffs to winning 24 of the final 34 points in the set. The
freshman middle hitter had five kills and three blocks in the first set as
Canisius used an 11-4 run to go up 12-11 on a service ace from Severyn. The
Griffs closed out the set with a 10-3 run to take the opening set.
Canisius
took control of the second set with a 5-1 run that turned a 10-10 tie into a
15-11 lead after a kill from Palka. The Broncs cut the Canisius lead to 20-18,
but a kill from Hernandez and another service ace from Severyn pushed the
Canisius lead back to four points. The Griffs went up 2-0 in the match on a
kill from senior Samantha Good.
The
Broncs won the opening four points of the third set and eventually held a 20-12
lead on a kill from Kayla Wong. Out of a Rider timeout, the Griffs then won
five straight points, capped by a service ace off the net from freshman Grace Streicher to cut the deficit to
20-17. The Griffs then trailed 23-19 before winning the final six points of the
set, including two kills from Chrzanowski and capped by a kill from junior Emily Elek, to finish off the match.
Bridget
Sheerin led Rider with seven kills. Ashlee Amatulli had a team-best 19 assists
while Brittany Gajewski led the team with 17 digs.
Canisius
closes out the month of September with two road matches next weekend, playing
at Saint Peter's and Manhattan. The Golden Griffins take on the Peacocks on
Saturday, in Jersey City, N.J. with match time in the Yanitelli Center set for
2 p.m.
Notes: Canisius
is 4-0 in MAAC play for the second time in the last three years, which matches
the best start to conference play in program history... Canisius defeats Rider
for the 13th consecutive meeting... Canisius has won 10 straight regular-season
matches in conference play and 30 of the last 32 sets... Canisius improves to
38-17 at home in MAAC play since the start of the 2006 season... Palka had
30-plus assists for the third straight match. The 34 assists are the most by a
Canisius setter in a three-set match this season... The 27 digs from Severyn are
the most by a Griff in a three-set or a four-set match in 2012.
