Volleyball Hits the Road to Quinnipiac and Fairfield

MATCH #20
Canisius (9-10, 6-1 MAAC) at Quinnipiac (7-10, 3-5 MAAC)
Date: Saturday, Oct. 19
Time: 1 p.m.
Live Video: Quinnipiac All-Access
Live Stats: SIDEARM Stats
Location: Burt Kahn Court (Hamden, Conn.)

MATCH #21
Canisius at Siena (12-4, 7-0 MAAC)
Date: Sunday, Oct. 20
Time: 1 p.m.
Live Video: Facebook Live
Live Stats: SIDEARM Stats
Location: George Bisacca Court at Alumni Hall (Fairfield, Conn.)

The Canisius volleyball team will look to rebound after suffering its first conference loss of 2019 this past Sunday, heading to Connecticut this weekend for stops at Quinnipiac and first-place Fairfield. The Golden Griffins open up with the Bobcats on Saturday, before Sunday's tilt with the host Stags which pits the top two schools in the MAAC standings against each other for the first time this season.

Scouting Canisius
• The Blue and Gold went a full five sets in both contests last weekend, as a win at Marist extended their winning streak to six.
• Siena was finally able to break Canisius' streak the next day, as the Griffs fell a win shy of matching the program-record winning streak set in 2012.
• Another 26 kills at a .392 hitting percentage from senior Leah Simmons over the weekend raised her season totals to 236 kills and an impressive .320 hitting clip. The middle hitter now ranks third in the MAAC with 3.15 kills per set and fourth among league leaders for hitting percentage.
• Sophomore Hannah Nelson continued to be a double-double machine with two more last weekend, recording double-digit kills and digs in six of the Griffs' last seven matches. Nelson posted a personal career high in each match, tallying 24 digs at Marist before notching six block assists at Siena. The sophomore also ranks third in the MAAC with 0.43 aces per set.
• Sophomore Camila Vazquez was a force at the net against Marist and Siena, recording a career-high nine block assists at Marist before topping that career high the following day with 10 block assists in the loss to Siena.
• Senior Cassidy Ceriani will begin play on Saturday just 17 digs short of 1,000 for her career, looking to become just the second player in Canisius history after Mary Beth Sands to record 2,000 assists and 1,000 digs.

Scouting the Opponents
• After earning a win over Marist last Wednesday, Quinnipiac split the weekend in New Jersey by losing in straight sets to Rider and then dropping Saint Peter's with a Sunday sweep.
• A .394 hitting percentage from Kaleigh Oates paces the entire conference, and Oates' 147 kills rank second on the Bobcats behind Maggie Baker's 170 kills. Morgan Sherwin has 133 kills, while setter Aryanah Diaz has passed the century mark in both kills and digs to go with 359 assists. Alejandra Rodriguez has provided a steady presence at libero with 296 digs that has put her fourth in the MAAC (4.70 per set), and Lydia Jones has averaged 0.97 blocks per set, second-best in the league.
• Fairfield enters the weekend having swept five-straight matches, picking up the straight-sets win in six of its seven MAAC contests this season, including sweeps of Saint Peter's and Rider last weekend.
• As a team, the Stags lead the MAAC in hitting percentage (.213), assists (12.20 per set), kills (12.98 per set), blocks (2.03 per set) and aces (1.61 per set). Joelle Battles paces the squad with 157 kills, averaging 2.91 per set to rank fifth in the conference, while Laura Seeger at 2.90 kills per set (142 total kills) sits behind her in sixth. After missing all of 2018, Manuela Nicolini has tallied 589 assists this season to rank first in the MAAC (10.33 per set), while Kaylie Butts paces the league with 0.98 block per set thanks to 58 total blocks thus far. At 199 digs, Morgan Doll is the top defensive weapon for the Stags.

Series History
• Through 16 meetings, Canisius holds a dominant 13-3 edge over Quinnipiac on the court as the Griffs took the first 10 contests in the all-time series.
• Canisius is 3-3 against Quinnipiac over the past three seasons but claimed victory via the sweep in both meetings last year with the Bobcats.
• In the two meetings last season, Simmons totaled 27 kills against the Bobcats while Vazquez racked up 19 kills over the two contests.
• Sunday will be the 46th all-time meeting between Canisius and Fairfield, as the Stags enter the contest with a 31-14 advantage.
• The Griffs swept the season series from Fairfield in 2018, as a Canisius win at home in straight sets ended a 58-match conference winning streak by the Stags, and the Griffs picked up another win over Fairfield, 3-1, to close out the regular season.
• Simmons led the way offensively in both matches, tallying nine kills in the first meeting and 15 in the second, while Ceriani totaled 78 assists and 21 digs over the two matches.

Up Next
The Golden Griffins come back to the Koessler Athletic Center for just their second home weekend of the campaign, playing Manhattan on Oct. 26 and Iona on Oct. 27. Opening serve for both matches is set for 1 p.m., as Saturday's match can be aired on ESPN3 while Sunday's contest will be an ESPN+ broadcast.

Follow the Griffs
For complete coverage of Canisius volleyball, please follow the Griffs on social media at @GriffVolleyball (Instagram and Twitter).

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Players Mentioned

#3 Cassidy Ceriani: S; 5' 11"; Senior

#14 Hannah Nelson: OH; 6' 0"; Sophomore

#13 Leah Simmons: MH; 6' 1"; Senior

#8 Camila Vazquez: MH; 6' 2"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#3 Cassidy Ceriani
: 5' 11"; Senior
: S

#14 Hannah Nelson
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: OH

#13 Leah Simmons
: 6' 1"; Senior
: MH

#8 Camila Vazquez
: 6' 2"; Sophomore
: MH