The Canisius volleyball team defeated Quinnipiac University in four sets in the opening round of the 2014 MAAC Championship at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. on Thursday. The Golden Griffins defeated the Bobcats 22-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-10.

No. 7 seed Canisius advances to the quarterfinals to face No. 2 seed Siena at 5 p.m. The teams split their two regular-season meetings, with each team winning on the road.  

Junior Rachel Kline had 16 kills and a career-high .467 attack percentage while sophomore Katlyn Tyler posted 15 kills and a .394 attack percentage. Sophomore Jacklyn Malusa added nine kills and five blocks while junior Grace Streicher had 44 assists. Streicher and Kline each posted three service aces.

 “I thought it took a couple sets for everyone to settle in, the players on the court and the people on the bench,” Canisius coach Cathy Hummel said. “After that second set, we all raised our intensity and energy level, and we played much better in the second half of the match. That's the team I have wanted to see and is what we will need the rest of this tournament.”

The teams played a tight first set that featured 15 ties and six lead changes. Quinnipiac (2-29) won six of the final nine points to win the first set. Canisius didn't trail in the second set as the Griffs built an early 6-2 lead and extended the advantage to 12-6 and 16-9 en route to evening the match at one set apiece.

Canisius (9-19) went up 9-5 in the third set before an 8-1 run by the Bobcats gave Quinnipiac a 13-10 lead. Canisius dominated the rest of the match, closing the third set on a 15-5 run and controlling the entire fourth set. The Griffs made their comeback in the third set with six consecutive points, including two service aces from Streicher. Kline and Tyler each had four kills in the set as Canisius took a 2-1 lead in the match.

In the fourth set, broke it open early with a 5-1 run to go up 10-4 on a service ace from freshman Kristin Bendy, one of eight service aces on the day for the Griffs. Quinnipiac never seriously challenged the rest of the way as a kill from Bendy closed out the match.

Notes: Canisius defeated Quinnipiac for the third time this season… Canisius has set its season high in attack percentage twice in the last three matches… Senior Emily Litwin had 20 digs and moved into fourth place in the Canisius record books with 1,284 career digs… Canisius posted a season-high 98.5 service reception percentage… Malusa had five or more blocks for the sixth time this season… Streicher has eight service aces in the last four matches… Kline posted 16 or more kills for the sixth time in 2014… Tyler had double-digit kills for the fifth straight match… Junior Lauren Siebert hit .333 or better for the fourth consecutive match… Bendy set a career high with five blocks.