Volleyball Opens Against Quinnipiac at MAAC Championship

MATCH #31
MAAC Championship Semifinal
No. 2 Canisius (15-15, 12-6 MAAC) vs. No. 6 Quinnipiac (13-15, 8-10 MAAC)
Date: Saturday, Nov. 23
Time: 5 p.m.
Live Video: ESPN+
Live Stats: SIDEARM Stats
Location: George Bisacca Court at Alumni Hall (Fairfield, Conn.)
Tournament Notes: PDF

The Canisius volleyball team will begin its hunt for the program's first conference title on Saturday, taking on Quinnipiac in the semifinal round of the 2019 MAAC Volleyball Championship. The No. 2 Golden Griffins and the No. 6 Bobcats split their two regular-season and are facing off in a MAAC semifinal match for the second-straight season/first time in the series history between two schools.

Scouting Canisius
• Canisius is making its 14th appearance in the MAAC Championship in program history.
• The Griffs advanced to the final round of MAAC Championship for the first time in 2018, defeating Rider in the semifinals before falling to Iona in the title match.
• The next Canisius victory will mark head coach Lenika Vazquez's 50 career win with the Golden Griffins.
• Senior Leah Simmons is leading Canisius in kills for the second-straight season, as the middle hitter's 329 kills in 2019 are two away from tying her 2018 total. On Thursday, Simmons became the first Canisius player to be named All-MAAC First Team in back-to-back seasons.
• 2019 All-MAAC Second Team selection Camila Vazquez paces the conference with a .389 hitting percentage, leading the MAAC for the second-straight season. Vazquez also leads the league with her 1.14 blocks per set after having the eighth-most blocks per set in 2018.
• Senior Cassidy Ceriani is looking to record her second-straight 1,000-assist season, leading the team with 984 assists. The setter is also four kills away from reaching the 100-kill benchmark in back-to-back seasons, and has surpassed the 300-dig plateau for the first time in her career.
• Hannah Nelson, with 53 service aces this season, is only three aces away from breaking Somer Sharpstone's program record of 55 service aces in 1997. The sophomore is also second on Canisius with 275 kills and third with 301 digs.
• Bree Long is just the second rookie in Canisius history to rack up 500-plus digs in a season after Allyson Severyn's 554 in 2009. The freshman's 521 digs ranks eighth in the program's single-season record book, needing 33 more digs to match Severyn for seventh all-time.

Scouting the Bobcats
• Quinnipiac advanced to the semifinal round with a 3-1 victory over No. 3 Rider on Friday evening, jumping out to a 2-0 lead that proved enough to take down the Broncs.
• Georgia Tselepi led the Bobcats with 16 kills and a .538 hitting percentage in the victory, while fellow Greece native Olga Zampati finished with 11 kills herself. 2019 MAAC Libero of the Year Alejandra Rodriguez notched 19 digs and a service ace to help her squad.
• The Bobcats are allowing a league-low 1.19 opponent service aces per set.
• Maggie Baker leads all QU players with 232 kills, while Kaleigh Oates' 216 kills on a .381 hitting percentage gives her the second-best hitting clip in the MAAC. Oates also tops the team with 75 total blocks. Aryanah Diaz has done a bit of everything for her squad, tallying 618 assists, 302 digs, 149 kills and 33 aces, while Alejandra Rodriguez has 503 digs overall and was averaging 4.79 digs per set entering the tournament (third-best in the conference).

Series History
• Through 18 all-time meetings, Canisius has a 14-4 record against Quinnipiac, including a 11-4 edge over the Bobcats since they joined the MAAC in 2013.
• The first matchup between the two schools this year saw the Griffs take the first set before dropping the next three, as Zampati notched 12 kills to lead both teams while both Simmons and freshman Ella Loussia registered nine kills for Canisius.
• In the second meeting, Canisius took down Quinnipiac in straight sets to close out the regular season. The Griffs hit at a season-high .430 percentage, as Vazquez pounded down 14 kills with a .875 clip, while Loussia tallied 12 kills and registered a .500 hitting mark.
• In the postseason, the Griffs and Bobcats have only played once back in the 2014 MAAC Championship. That match saw No. 7 Canisius defeat No. 10 Quinnipiac in the quarterfinal round at the ESPN Wide World of Sports in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

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

#4 Bree Long: L; 5' 5"; Freshman

#2 Ella Loussia: OH; 6' 1"; Freshman

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

#4 Bree Long
: 5' 5"; Freshman
: L

#2 Ella Loussia
: 6' 1"; Freshman
: OH