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Lauren Hubert prepares to kill a ball against Kent State on Sept. 8, 2023
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2
Sacred Heart SH 7-11,3-3 MAAC
3
Winner Canisius Canis 8-9,4-2 MAAC
Sacred Heart SH
7-11,3-3 MAAC
2
Final
3
Canisius Canis
8-9,4-2 MAAC
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
Sacred Heart SH 25 25 27 23 8 (2)
Canisius Canis 23 18 29 25 15 (3)

Game Recap: Volleyball |

Volleyball Fights Back to Defeat Sacred Heart in Five Sets

Trailing 2-0 coming out of the match intermission, Canisius rallied from nine points down midway through the third set before winning sets four and five to earn a thrilling 3-2 comeback victory over Sacred Heart in MAAC volleyball action Saturday afternoon at the Koessler Athletic Center.
 
With the win, Canisius's second straight, the Golden Griffins improved to 8-9 overall and 4-2 in MAAC play, while the Pioneers slipped to 7-11 overall and 3-3 in conference action with the loss.
 
Sacred Heart took control of the match by winning set one by a score of 25-23, and then the Pioneers took the second set by a score of 25-18 to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match. In the third set, Sacred Heart led by as many as nine points at 19-10 before Canisius battled back to win that set 29-27, forcing a fourth set. In the fourth set, the Griffs hit .379 as a team en route to the 25-23 set victory. In the fifth and final set, the Blue and Gold jumped out to an early 10-4 lead and never looked back, completing the "reverse match sweep" with a 15-8 victory.
 
Senior Kara Zaucha and sophomore Lauren Hubert each posted 15 kills in the win for Canisius, which has now won each of its last two outings in five sets. Sophomore Hannah Kos put down a career-high 11 kills in the victory, while junior Bella Mosquera added eight kills, two aces, three solo blocks and four block assists to the winning cause. Junior setter Ella Bourque was credited with 34 assists and two service aces and graduate student setter Niccola Bozzini recorded a season-high 21 assists as well. Senior libero Jillian Hanna added a match-high 28 digs to the Griffs' cause, as the Blue and Gold ended the contest by hitting .237 as a team with 10 total team blocks.
 
For Sacred Heart, Camryn Luginbuhl put down a match-high 26 kills, the fourth time this season she has posted 24-or more kills in a match. Setter Gaby Zovko had a match-high 50 assists for the Pioneers who have now lost two straight and three of their last four outings, dating back to Oct. 2.
 
In the third set, Canisius trailed 19-10, but cut Sacred Heart's lead to four at 19-15 thanks to a Sacred Heart service error and four straight attack errors by the Pioneers. Later in the frame, Canisius trailed 23-20 before the Blue and Gold scored four-straight points to take the lead, their first lead of the set, at 24-20. A kill by Allison Murray put Sacred Heart up 27-26 and moved the contest to match point, but Canisius kept battling with three-straight points, including a pair of Sacred Heart attack errors, to extend the match with the 29-27 set victory.
 
In the fourth set, a set that featured 12 ties and four lead changes, Mosquera had back-to-back kills for the Griffs to give the Blue and Gold a 22-21 lead, a lead Canisius would not give up the rest of the way. Leading 24-23, a kill from Kalia Reisma on set-point pushed the contest to a fifth set, as the Blue and Gold closed out the fourth frame by hitting .379 as a group.
 
A 6-0 run early in the fifth set turned a 4-4 score into a 10-4 Canisius lead, with Kos accounting for two of the Griffs' six points in that surge. Leading 12-8, a kill by Kos and a pair of Sacred Heart attack errors proved to be the difference, as the Blue and Gold scored the 15-8 set victory to secure the match.
 
GAME NOTES
• Saturday's match with Sacred Heart marked just the second in series history, and it was the first meeting between the schools since 2015. Sacred Heart joined the MAAC prior to the start of the 2024-25 academic year.
• Canisius is 3-1 in five-set matches this season, with all three of those wins coming against MAAC opponents.
• The Griffs have won back-to-back five-set matches for the first time since Aug. 26-27, 2022.
• Zaucha, who ranks eighth in the MAAC in kills per set, has recorded 10-or more kills in each of team's six MAAC matches to date.
• Zaucha's second kill in the fourth set stands as the 800th kill in her career.
• Hubert, who has recorded 15 kills in each of the team's last two matches, is averaging 2.85 kills per set in league play.
• Hanna set a new career high with her 28 digs in the win on Saturday.
• Bourque's 34 assists allowed her to become the seventh player in school history to pass the 2,300-career assist mark. She will enter Sunday's match needing 13 assists to pass former Griff Jackie Reed for sixth all-time on the school's career assist chart.
 
UP NEXT
Canisius will close out its home MAAC weekend on Sunday when the team plays host to Fairfield. Match time at the Koessler Athletic Center is set for noon, and the contest will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
 
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