Canisius junior Emma Isroff put down a team-high 13 kills to help lead the host Golden Griffins to a 3-1 victory over Niagara in Metro Conference volleyball action Tuesday night at the Koessler Athletic Center. The Griffs took the match by set scores of 27-25, 25-15, 22-25, 25-23.
Canisius (4-18, 3-9 Metro) featured a balanced attack with three players recording 12-or more kills in the winning effort. Senior Azoria Davis and redshirt-junior Julia Lenik each recorded 12 kills. Redshirt-freshman McKenna Corcoran set a program record for blocks in a four-set match with 10, while senior libero Brenda Reynaga tallied 19 digs for the Blue and Gold.
Karlotta Kattai had a team-high 13 kills and teammate Kadence Goolsby added eight kills for the Purple Eagles (2-18, 1-11 Metro). Niagara libero Ashley Moreland led all players with 20 digs.
Canisius scored the opening two points of set number one, before falling behind 9-4 following an early attack from Kattai, who recorded three kills in that stretch. The Griffs battled their way back later in the frame to draw even at 20-20 thanks to a pair of kills from Lenik. With the set tied at 25-25, back-to-back kills from Davis and Lenik helped seal the set victory for Canisius to give the Griffs the 1-0 lead in the match.
The Canisius defense held Niagara to hit -.200 in the second set of play thanks to Corcoran, who tallied eight of her team's 16 block assists in set number two. Canisius never trailed in the second set, leading wire-to-wire, as the Blue and Gold hit .280 as a team en route to the 25-15 victory.
The Niagara attack came alive in the third set, with the team hitting a match-high .344 and four Purple Eagles recording three kills, apiece. In a set that saw 14 ties and seven lead changes, Niagara was able to trim the Griffs' lead to 2-1 in the match after the Purple Eagles scored the frame's final three points for the 25-22 victory.
In a fourth set that featured eight lead chances, Niagara led 21-20 after a pair of Canisius attack errors. However, Canisius pushed back and scored the set's next four points, capped by a kill from Isroff, that gave the Griffs a 24-21 lead. Niagara trimmed the Griffs' lead to 24-23 with back-to-back kills, but one final kill from Isroff ended up being the final point of the night as the Blue and Gold scored their first regular season series sweep of Niagara since the 2022 season.
GAME NOTES
• Tuesday's matchup the 119th meeting between Canisius and Niagara. Canisius now leads the series, 62-55-2.
• Dating back to last season, Canisius has defeated Niagara three-straight times.
• As a team, Canisius registered 22 block assists, the third time this season the Griffs had 22 block assists in a match.
• Freshman Cali Tierney was credited with her first career block assist in the win.
• Prior to Tuesday, eight different Griffs had recorded nine block assists in a four-set match. The last Canisius player with nine block assists in a four-set contest was former Griff Roxanne Hernandez, who had nine against Rider on Sept. 22, 2013.
• Corcoran is the 31st player at the NCAA Division I level this season to have 10-or more block assists in a four-set match.
• Isroff's 13 kills gives her 10-or more kills in nine of the tea's last 10 outings.
UP NEXT
Canisius will return to action Friday night with a home Metro Conference match against Saint Peter's. That match will start at 6 p.m., at the Koessler Athletic Center and the contest will be broadcast live on the Golden Griffin Broadcast Network.
MORE THAN A GAME
Support the Canisius volleyball team in conjunction with the "More Than A Game" campaign. Your donation to the volleyball program helps our student-athletes continue to be champions in the community, in the classroom and in competition. To donate, CLICK HERE.
Like Canisius Athletics on Facebook
Follow @GoGriffs and @GriffVolleyball on X
Follow @GoGriffs and @GriffVolleyball on Instagram
