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Kara Zaucha receives a serve in a home volleyball match against Youngstown State on Sept. 12, 2024.
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2
Siena Siena 1-11,0-1 MAAC
3
Winner Canisius Canis 5-7,1-0 MAAC
Siena Siena
1-11,0-1 MAAC
2
Final
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Canisius Canis
5-7,1-0 MAAC
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
Siena Siena 21 25 25 19 16 (2)
Canisius Canis 25 20 22 25 18 (3)

Game Recap: Volleyball |

Volleyball Opens MAAC Play with Win Over Siena

Four Canisius players recorded double-digit kills, led by senior Kara Zaucha with her team-high 19, as the Golden Griffins scored a comeback win in five sets over Siena in MAAC volleyball action Saturday afternoon at the Koessler Athletic Center. Canisius, which improved to 5-7 overall and 1-0 in league play with the victory, won the match by scores of 25-21, 20-25, 22-25, 25-19, 18-16.
 
Zaucha added 15 digs, four service aces and four block assists to her team-high 19 kills on the day, as the Blue and Gold scored the victory by hitting .240 as a team. Sophomore Lauren Hubert matched a season-high with 17 kills to go with eight digs and three block assists, while fellow sophomore Kalia Reisma posted a career-high 13 kills to go with five block assists in the win. Junior setter Ella Bourque recorded 54 assists and 11 digs and senior libero Jillian Hanna posted a match-high 26 digs in the win as the Griffs snapped their five-match losing skid with the victory.
 
For Siena (1-11, 0-1 MAAC), Sara Wagner posted a match-high 27 kills in the loss for the Saints. Doga Diraz added 12 kills and Olga Sawinska recorded 10 kills, as the Saints ended the match by hitting .236 as a team.
 
GAME RECAP
Canisius took an early 1-0 lead in the match with the 25-21 victory in the first set thanks to four kills and an ace by Zaucha in the opening frame. Siena knotted the match at 1-1 with a 25-20 victory in set two. In that frame, Wagner and Diraz combined for 10 of the Saints' 16 kills.
 
Out of the intermission, Siena took a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-22 set victory. In that set, which featured 11 lead changes and 16 ties, Canisius led 21-20 before Siena rallied to score three-straight points to take a 23-21 advantage. A kill by Zaucha made the score 23-22 in favor of the visiting team before Wagner and Sina Toroslu closed out the set with back-to-back kills.
 
Canisius used five-straight points midway through the fourth set to take a 13-8 lead over Siena, with two of the Blue and Gold's three kills in that scoring run coming from Hubert. Leading 19-15, Canisius scored three-straight points thanks to a kill by graduate student Sofia Heqvist and a pair of attack errors by Siena. The Griffs closed out the set and forced a fifth set after Zaucha put down a kill on set point, giving Canisius the 25-19 victory.
 
In the fifth set, Canisius never trailed but never led the frame by more than three points. After a kill by Diraz tied the score at 16-16, back-to-back kills by Reisma pushed the Blue and Gold to victory.
 
GAME NOTES
• Saturday marked the 61st all-time meeting between Canisius and Siena in volleyball in a series that dates back to 1990.
• The Griffs opened MAAC play with a win for the first time since 2021. In that season, Canisius also defeated Siena 3-2 at home.
• The five-set win for Canisius is the team's first since Oct. 8, 2023 at Rider.
• Hedqvist's 11 kills gives her 10-or more kills in a match seven times this season.
• Zaucha's double-double effort was her fifth of the season.
• Bourque's 54 assists on Saturday marked the fifth time in her career where she has recorded 50-or more assists in a match.
• Bourque now has 2,122 career assists, which moved her past former Griff Kelly Sieber for seventh all-time on the school's career assist chart.
• Hanna has now recorded 20-or more digs in eight matches as a Griff.
 
UP NEXT
Canisius will close out its first MAAC homestand of the season on Sunday when the team plays host to Marist. Match time is set for noon at the Koessler Athletic Center, and the contest will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
 
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