BUFFALO, N.Y. – ­­As Canisius embarked on its maiden voyage, broadcasting on ESPN3 on Tuesday night, the athletic department couldn't have asked for a more dramatic match, as the Canisius College volleyball team (2-10) defeated the Buffalo Bulls (0-9) in four sets. The third set proved to be the pivot point as the Griffs grinded out a 25-23 win to take the lead and never looked back.

“That was a great test for us in the third set,” head coach Cathy Hummel said. “We've been on the other side of it, so it's really nice seeing competitive play. Every point mattered to our team and we finally came out on the good side.”

The Blue and Gold finished the match with a .258 hitting percentage registering 52 kills on 124 attacks, with 20 errors. Buffalo concluded the match with a .165 hitting percentage after tallying 45 kills and 24 errors.

Three Golden Griffins had double figure kills during the match as Katlyn Tyler's 19 led the way. She also recorded just seven errors on 45 attacks, notching a .267 hitting percentage. Both Jacklyn Malusa and Lauren Siebert also recorded 10 kills apiece. Siebert had the best hitting percentage of the trio as she had 10 kills and just two errors on 18 attacks for a .444 hitting percentage.

On the defensive side, senior Jordan Tylec made the start as libero and set a new career-high in digs with 16. The North Tonawanda, N.Y., native's previous best was 10 against Lehigh on Aug. 30, 2014.

Grace Streicher excelled dishing out assists as she notched her highest total of 2015, registering 41. That mark is just eight shy of matching her career best of 49 set against Niagara in 2014.

Freshman Julia Hrycyk extended her team lead in service aces as well, as she notched four more in the match, giving her 18 for the season.

After splitting the first two sets, the third proved to be a pivotal frame coming out of the break. The stanza was as close as could be as the squads scored set-tying points 14 times. With the score 23-23, the Griffs used a Tyler kill and an attack error by Megan Lipski to notch the emotional set win.

In the final frame, Canisius used that momentum and vaulted out to sizeable lead, going on an 18-6 run. Buffalo went on an abbreviated 5-2 run before the Griffs ended that, and scored five of the next six points to secure the set, 25-12 and the match 3-0.

The Griffs now head into conference play this weekend, opening with Quinnipiac on Sept. 19 and Fairfield on Sept 20. Both matches will be at the Koessler Athletic Center and are slated for 1 p.m. Both matches will also be featured on ESPN3. 

GAME NOTES:
With the win today, the Griffs improve to 5-11 against Buffalo under head coach Cathy Hummel ... Tonight's victory was the first against Buffalo since 2011, which was also played at the Koessler Athletic Center ... The Griffs are 4-4 at home against the Bulls under Hummel ... Jordan Tylec recorded a new career-high in digs with 13 ... Grace Streicher's 41 assists are eight shy of her career-high set in 2014 ... The Griffs finish the non-conference slate with a 2-10 record.