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Claire Lenoard goes for a kill against Eastern Washington
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Freshman Claire Leonard
1
Niagara NIA 13-8, 9-3
3
Winner Canisius CAN 8-14, 6-6
Niagara NIA
13-8, 9-3
1
Final
3
Canisius CAN
8-14, 6-6
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Niagara NIA 25 26 19 22 (1)
Canisius CAN 18 28 25 25 (3)

Game Recap: Volleyball |

Volleyball Stuns Second-Place Niagara, 3-1

Canisius volleyball toppled one of the league's best teams on Thursday, as the Golden Griffins bested Niagara, 3-1 (18-25, 28-26, 25-19, 25-22) at the Koessler Athletic Center. It was the Griffs first-regular season victory over the Purple Eagles since 2013, and helped the team improve to 8-18 overall and 6-6 in MAAC play. With the loss the second-place Purple Eagles dropped to 13-8 overall and 9-3 in conference action.
 
Much like the team's first meeting this season, Niagara took the first set 25-18, but the Blue and Gold bounced back to even the match 28-26 headed into the intermission.
 
Unlike the teams first matchup of the year, Canisius came out of the break and rode the momentum of its second-set victory, defeating the Purple Eagles 25-19 to take the lead in the match 2-1.
 
In the third frame, it appeared Niagara was gearing up for a comeback, as the squad tallied four-straight points to make it 16-15, midway through the set, however  Canisius notched six of the next eight points, distancing itself from the Purple Eagles, and going up 21-18.

Niagara's Jada Caroll dropped in a kill to make it 22-21, Canisius, however freshman Claire Leonard came up with a pair of clutch kills to put Canisius on the brink of the upset, 24-21.

Following a Grace Hetterscheidt kill to make it 24-22, Alexis Gray misfired on a desperation attack, and the Griffs secured the 25-22 win and 3-1 match victory.
 
As a team the Blue and Gold were locked-in on offense hitting .203 as a team and tallying 57 kills and just 25 errors on 158 attacks. Niagara hit .146, with 53 kills and 28 errors in the loss.
 
Leonard led the way with 17 kills and was one of three players to hit double-figures with Sara Wesley (15) and Leah Simmons (11) following suit. Wesley continued her efficient trend, hitting .464 in the match, with 15 kills and just two errors.
 
Sofia Lopez Acosta was one dig shy of 20 for the match, tallying 19, while Cassidy Ceriani tallied a season-high 46 assists and 12 digs for the double-double.

THOUGHTS FROM COACH VAZQUEZ
"It was great to see tonight, the efforts of my team, and their communication pay off,"  head coah Lenika Vazquez said. "For them to pull together even when things got tough, even after errors, but to still come back and be aggressive, that was a huge win for us tonight."

"I think we just started to adjust to their offense," Vazquez said. "We didn't have a fixed mindset where we did one thing, we moved around, played defense very well, stayed in perimeter and dug out a lot of balls. Blocking-wise we went toe-to-toe with them so that coverage was a huge issue and was of great impact today."
 
"The focus of practice this week was about knowing what you do well and doing those things best when you step out on the court and make minor adjustments when we have to. I think they did a great job executing that tonight."

NOTES
• With the win Canisius is now 51-52-2 all-time against Niagara.
• Canisius snapped the Purple Eagles seven-match winning streak with its victory on Thursday.
• With its win against Niagara, Canisius has now bested its 2016 win total with six matches yet to play, having notched eight this season.
• Ceriani tallied her ninth double-double of the season with 46 assists and 12 digs.
• Lopez Acosta was one dig shy of tallying her fifth match with 20-or-more digs, recording 19.
• Lopez Acosta is averaging 22.6 digs per match in her last five contests.
• Leonard has posted double-figure kills in her last five matches.
• As the team continues to show improvement, so do the numbers for the Griffs setter, Ceriani, who has tallied 40-or-more assists, four times in the last five matches.
• Ceriani has tallied 40-or-more assists, five times this season.
 
UP NEXT
The Blue and Gold head into its final two home matches of the season, reading for Manhattan on Saturday and Iona on Sunday. Both matches are slated for 1 p.m. starts. Sunday will be the team's senior day, as the Griffs honor its three seniors, Kristen Plukas, Samantha Zebuth and Alexandra George. The senior day ceremony will take place prior to the national anthem and starting lineup.
 
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