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Canisius University Athletics

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Sofia Hedqvist hits a ball vs Syracuse at Le Moyne on August 29th 2024
0
Mercyhurst Mercy 1-5,0-0 NEC
3
Winner Canisius Canis 4-2,0-0 MAAC
Mercyhurst Mercy
1-5,0-0 NEC
0
Final
3
Canisius Canis
4-2,0-0 MAAC
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 F
Mercyhurst Mercy 15 16 22 (0)
Canisius Canis 25 25 25 (3)

Game Recap: Volleyball |

Volleyball Wins Home Opener With Sweep Over Mercyhurst

Senior Kara Zaucha led the Canisius volleyball team with 12 kills on 21 swings and graduate student Sofia Hedqvist added 10 kills and three service aces to help lead the host Golden Griffins to a 3-0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-22) sweep over Mercyhurst in non-conference action Sunday afternoon at the Koessler Athletic Center.
 
With the victory, the Griffs improved to 4-2 on the season, while the Lakers dropped to 1-5 on the year with their second-straight loss.

The reigning MAAC Player of the Week, Zaucha posted a .429 hitting percentage to go along with six digs in the winning effort. Junior Ella Bourque, the reigning MAAC Setter of the Week, was good for a match-high 21 assists and two aces and sophomore Lauren Hubert posted nine kills, five digs and a block assists. For the match, Canisius hit .356 as a team, while holding Mercyhurst to a .135 team attack percentage for the contest.

After Mercyhurst took the first point of the match, Canisius used a 15-2 run to take a commanding 15-3 lead early in the opening set. In that scoring spurt, Zaucha was good for four kills, while Bourque added both of her aces to the Griffs' cause. Canisius hit .433 as a team in the opening frame en route to the 25-15 set victory. In the second set, Canisius jumped out to an early 6-1 lead before Mercyhurst answered with five-straight points to even the second set at 6-6. From there, the Griffs scored seven of the set's next 10 points to pull away, as the Lakers never got any closer than three points as the Blue and Gold took a 2-0 lead in the match with the 25-16 victory.
 
In third set, Mercyhurst led 16-12 before the Griffs knotted the frame at 16-16 with four-straight points. Later in the set, the Lakers led 22-20 before the Blue and Gold closed out the contest by scoring the set's final five points, with three of those points coming from Hedqvist.

Mercyhurst's Lilianna Mook and Jessica Wilson each had seven kills in the loss for the Lakers, who are competing at the NCAA Division I level for the first time in school history.
 
GAME NOTES
• Sunday marked the 20th all-time meeting between Canisius and Mercyhurst in volleyball, and today's game was the first time the Lakers played at the Koessler Athletic Center since Sept. 7, 1993.
• Including Thursday's road win at Mercyhurst, Canisius defeated a non-league opponent two times in the same season for the first time since 2003 when the Griffs dropped Colgate twice during the non-conference portion of the schedule.
• The third set featured nine ties and 11 lead changes.
• Canisius posted a team attack percentage of .200 or higher for the fourth time in five matches with its .356 attack percentage on Sunday.
• Senior Jillian Hanna led the Griffs with 14 digs, her fifth match with 10-or more digs this season.
• Zaucha has now put down 10-or more kills in five matches this season and seven times in the team's last 10 contests, dating back to last year.

UP NEXT 
The Griffs will continue their three-match homestand Sept. 12-13 when the Blue and Gold hosts the Ellicott Hotels Western New York Invitational at the Koessler Athletic Center. Canisius will play host to Youngstown State on Thursday, before taking on Bucknell on Friday. Both of those contests will begin at 6 p.m.
 
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