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Giulia La Longa Waits for Serve from Siena 3-7-21
Lindy Feider
3
Winner Wright St. WSU 1-0,0-0 Horizon
0
Canisius Canis 0-1,0-0 MAAC
Winner
Wright St. WSU
1-0,0-0 Horizon
3
Final
0
Canisius Canis
0-1,0-0 MAAC
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 F
Wright St. WSU 25 25 25 (3)
Canisius Canis 12 19 20 (0)

Game Recap: Volleyball |

Volleyball Drops Season Opener to Wright State

The Canisius volleyball team fell short in its season-opening contest versus Wright State Friday evening at the Auto-Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational, hosted by Michigan State in East Lansing, Mich. 

The Raiders jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, winning all three sets in the contest (12-25, 19-25, 20-25) to complete the sweep. 

Match Recap
Canisius scored three of the first four points of the contest before Wright State responded with a 6-1 run to take a 7-4 edge. A kill by Ella Loussia would briefly halt the Raiders' run, but Wright State followed with a 17-7 spurt to close out the first set, 25-12. 

After falling behind 4-0 to begin the second set, Canisius rattled off three straight points, featuring kills courtesy of Giulia La Longa and Bree Long, to trim the deficit to a point. Leading 15-10 at the media break, Wright State scored three straight points to expand its lead to 18-10. Facing set point, Canisius scored three consecutive points of its own to trim the Raiders' lead to five, but Wright State took advantage of a service error to close out the second set with a 25-19 victory.  

Back-and-forth play was the theme to start the third frame, with Wright State holding a 9-7 advantage over the Griffs. A 3-0 run by the Raiders stretched their lead to 12-7, while Canisius answered with back-to-back kills from La Longa and Kara Zaucha. Following a 4-0 Wright State spurt, a kill from Zaucha sparked a 5-1 Canisius run that trimmed the deficit, 17-14. The Raiders would close out the contest, taking the third set, 25-20, to complete the sweep. 

Canisius was led on the attack by Loussia's eight kills, as Canisius hit .138 (28-13-109) as a team. Freshman Avery Dole and senior Ashley Kekeisen were good for nine and eight assists, respectively. Long aided the Blue and Gold's effort defensively with 19 digs. 

The Wright State attack was fueled by Megan Alder's team-high 10 kills for the Raiders, who hit .257 (42-14-109) in the victory. Lainey Stephenson recorded a match-high 29 assists for the defending Horizon League champions. 

Head Coach Shannon Thompson's Comments
"I thought we had a good match with lots to work on and some good shining moments. When we played with tempo, things went well for us. Overall, our serve receive was good for us and we can build upon that going into tomorrow's matches." 

Match Notes 
• Friday's showdown was the second all-time meeting between the two programs. Wright State leads the matchup,
2-0, with both victories coming in three sets. 
• The contest was the first meeting between the two programs since 2009. 
• Freshmen Avery Dole, Kara Zaucha, and Emma Mans both made their collegiate debut for the Blue and Gold. 
• Long's 19 digs was the 10th-straight contest the junior has posted double-digit digs. The Temperance, Mich., native has recorded double-digit digs in 42 of her 46 career matches. 

Up Next
The Golden Griffins return to action Saturday in day two of the Auto-Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational, beginning the day versus the host Michigan State at noon before wrapping up the weekend with a 5 p.m. match against Western Michigan. Both matches can be streamed live on Big Ten Network Plus.
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