The Canisius College volleyball team concluded play in the Art Carmichael Invitational in Kingston, R.I. with a three-set win over the University of Hartford. The Golden Griffins defeated the Hawks 25-18, 25-21, 30-28 to close out non-conference play with a 3-7 record.

Junior Emily Elek posted her second straight match without an error, recording 12 kills on 22 attack attempts. Senior Samantha Good had nine kills while senior Logan Sulongga and junior Roxanne Hernandez each had six kills, with Hernandez posting five blocks. Junior Sydney Palka recorded 24 assists while junior Allyson Severyn had 20 digs.

"It was nice to bounce back after an emotional loss on Friday to Rhode Island with our first three-set win over the season," Canisius coach Cathy Hummel said. 

Hartford jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead, but Canisius chipped away at the deficit. The Griffs would take their first lead of the match on a service ace from Severyn as Canisius scored five straight points to eventually go up 13-11. The Griffs built a 21-13 lead and closed out the set.

In the second set, Hartford scored the first three points and went up 11-7 after a Canisius error. The Griffs used an 8-3 run to take their first lead of the set, going up 15-14 on a kill from Good. Canisius never gave up the lead during the rest of the set, using a 5-1 run to wrap up the set on another kill from Good.

The teams played a tight third set with no team holding more than a two-point lead after a kill from Elek knotted the score at 12-12. Canisius would fight off a Hartford set point at 24-23 with back-to-back kills from junior Jessica Warner to give the Griffs their first match point. The teams traded side-outs until Hartford had its second set point at 28-27. The Griffs then won three straight points - taking advantage of two Rhode Island errors and a kill from Hernandez to complete the sweep.

Canisius starts conference play next weekend against Marist. Match time in Poughkeepsie is set for 2 p.m.

Notes: On the weekend, Elek had 35 kills and one attack error on 78 attack attempts for a .436 attack percentage... Hernandez had five or more blocks for the third time this season. The junior has at least two blocks in all 10 matches in 2012... Freshman Grace Streicher had 15 assists against Rhode Island, the fourth time in the last six matches she has had 15 or more assists... Elek is the first Golden Griffin with back-to-back matches of at least 12 kills and zero attack errors in the last 10 seasons... Sophomore Emily Litwin had a season-high 10 digs... Warner is now 55-for-56 on service receptions in the last four matches.