Volleyball 11/15/2019 12:00:00 PM By Aidan Joly, GoGriffs.com contributor

IN DEPTH: Volleyball Mothers Influence Both Ceriani and Shifflet

Volleyball at Canisius is a family affair for several of its student-athletes.

Sophomore Hannah Nelson saw her sister Haleigh become an All-American at Wisconsin, while senior Gabrielle Darnaby competed against her own sister, Kassandra, when the elder Darnaby played for rival Iona.

But for two Golden Griffins, seniors Cassidy Ceriani and Carly Shifflet, they have significant influences on their volleyball careers in the form of their own mothers, who each achieved a high level of success in collegiate volleyball.

Ceriani's mother, Dylann (nee Duncan), played volleyball at BYU, becoming a two-time All-American and landing a spot on the United States National Team, while two of Cassidy's siblings have also ended up playing volleyball collegiately. For the past four years, Cassidy has made a name for herself at Canisius, making the MAAC All-Rookie team in 2016, and then being named to the All-MAAC Second Team last season.

Cassidy and her four siblings played soccer, basketball and softball during their childhoods in San Diego before being introduced to volleyball around age 11, with their mother as coach. Quickly, Cassidy, her brother Duncan and her sister Lael loved it and dropped the other sports to focus on just volleyball. In a twist of fate, Cassidy's first game as a Griff actually came against Lael when the older Ceriani sister was at East Carolina.

"My mom is one of my greatest role models, so doing anything that would be closely related to her was something that I wanted to do," Cassidy said.

It was admittedly tough on Dylann Ceriani to sit her own daughter as much as the other players, even though she was consistently one of the best players on her teams.

"She definitely was one that I could always count on, she would serve and pass and get to balls better than anyone else on the court and I needed her out there, but I didn't want to be playing favorites so I sat her as much as everybody else" Dylann Ceriani said.

As Cassidy got older and into college, the pair have seen similarities that appear in both their on-court play, despite playing different positions, and their off-court personalities.

"She says she wasn't as loud and now she's super loud and super animated so when I get a little more into the game and I start goofing off, I would say that's more like her," Cassidy Ceriani said.

Dylann Ceriani is not able to make it to many games because of the cross-country travel, but still watches every game online, and makes it out to Buffalo once a year to watch her daughter play. With Cassidy in her final year, Dylann is making the trip out to Western New York twice this season.

"It's pretty hard, but it's not as hard as it would be if the games weren't streamed online, we are really lucky. And the staff that does it does such a quality job," Dylann Ceriani said.

Meanwhile, a bit closer to Canisius, in nearby Williamsville, Robin and Carly Shifflet share a similar bond. Robin Shifflet (nee Bock) played volleyball at Ohio State and then Louisville, where she was named All-Metro Conference in 1988. Carly has also had her own success in the sport, being part of the Canisius volleyball team's leadership group for the past three seasons.

The entire Shifflet family revolves around sports. In addition to Robin's volleyball playing days, both of Carly's grandfathers, Roger Bock and Joe Shifflet, are in various local Hall of Fames for their athletic achievements. Roger Bock was inducted into the Western New York Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999, while Joe Shifflet was inducted into the Western New York Sports Hall of Fame in 2008 following a football career at University at Buffalo. Robin Shifflet is now a physical education teacher in the Clarence School District, with Carly following in her path as a physical education major.

"Everybody in our community knows the Shifflet family as the athletic, sports-obsessed family, so it's in my blood and I knew I would be happy doing this, seeing how happy my family is and how they are with their profession and I want to continue that path and follow those footsteps," Carly Shifflet said.

Robin Shifflet has been a volleyball coach since she stopped playing, coaching the varsity team at Clarence High School for a number of years, and had Carly on the sidelines with her for a lot of the games. She said it was a tough adjustment for her going from playing to coaching. That is something that Carly is also doing, helping run numerous camps for youth volleyball players, and has a real draw to it.

"When I left playing volleyball as a player, collegiately, I was very self-absorbed, because most players are. They're all about themselves and it's really hard to make that jump from playing to being a coach, it really is. It was a struggle for me," Robin Shifflet said.

The similarities between the two even go down to the jersey number. Carly wore number 11 for her whole high school and club career, the same number her mother wore growing up. That number was not available when she came to Canisius, though, so she unknowingly changed to number 5. Ironically, Robin had the same situation going into Ohio State, being given number 5 when she was told number 11 was already taken.

"It was really interesting how that worked out," Carly said on history repeating itself.

It remains to be seen what will come next for Cassidy Ceriani and Carly Shifflet as they both close out their collegiate careers this season. But both of their mothers will be there for Senior Day on November 16 and, if one thing is for sure, both mothers will continue to be large role models and influencers in their daughters' lives.

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Players Mentioned

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

#7 Gabrielle Darnaby: OH; 6' 0"; Senior

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

#5 Carly Shifflet: OH/RS; 5' 8"; Senior

Players Mentioned

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

#7 Gabrielle Darnaby
: 6' 0"; Senior
: OH

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

#5 Carly Shifflet
: 5' 8"; Senior
: OH/RS