The Canisius College volleyball team was bested by the Fairfield Stags on Saturday, 3-0, as the squad swept the Blue and Gold. With the loss the Griffs fall below .500 in the MAAC with a 6-7 record in MAAC play, and drop to 8-17 overall, while the Stags improve to 12-9 and 7-4 in conference.

“Unfortunately errors and bad luck cost our team the win today,” head coach Cathy Hummel said. “We need to find ways to overcome mistakes and calls that go against us, however it didn't happen in this match.”  

Canisius was bested in three straight sets, the first two by identical 25-19 scores. In the third frame, the Griffs showed plenty of fight holding multiple leads, but was eventually dispatched by the Stags, 26-24.

Offensive efficiency and errors were a problem for the Blue and Gold on Saturday as the squad recorded a .160 hitting percentage with 38 kills and 17 errors on 131 attacks. Fairfield proved to be the better team offensively with a .250 hitting percentage with 48 kills and 16 errors on 128 attacks.

Lauren Siebert was the Griffs best weapon on Saturday as she tallied 12 kills and just four errors on 24 attacks for a .333 hitting percentage. Katyln Tyler also recorded double figure kills with 10, but struggled with accuracy with eight errors on 43 attacks, to post a .047 hitting percentage.

Grace Streicher was the team's setter and posted 31 assists and 11 digs for a double-double. Rachel Kline served as the team's libero and led the team in digs with 17. Because of the defensive position, Kline failed to record a kill for the first time in 64 matches.

Megan O'Sullivan paced the Stags on offense with 15 kills, while Skyler Day and Megan Theiller pitched in 12 and 10, respectively. Sydney Buckley led the team in assists with 42 and Taylor Rudeen tallied 23 digs for Fairfield.

After dropping the first two sets 25-19, the Griffs came out with gusto in set three. Canisius opened the frame on a 9-4 run. The Griffs kept the momentum going, extending its lead to 15-10 before the Stags began to turn the tide. Fairfield used a 12-5 run late in the set, to take the lead 22-20 capped by a Theiller kill.

Canisius, faced with match point, evened up the score at 24-24, but an error by Tyler and a Day kill sealed the deal for Fairfield, 26-24.

Canisius will look to get back on track tomorrow afternoon, as the squad faces Quinnipiac in Hamden, Conn. The Griffs are a perfect 9-0 against the Bobcats all-time. The match is slated for 1 p.m.