Darthmouth's Riley Imamura and Zori Brown combined for seven kills and three service aces in the pivotal third set to help lead the visiting Big Green to a 3-1 (25-22, 19-25, 25-15, 25-14) win over Canisius in the final match of the Canisius/UB Invitational Sunday afternoon at the Koessler Athletic Center.
Imamura put down a career-high 16 kills to go with a pair of service aces in the victory while Brown added 10 kills, 11 digs and two aces in the win. Raeli Smith chipped in six kills to go with five block assists and three aces, as Dartmouth (2-1) finished the contest with 15 aces.
For Canisius (0-7), junior Emma Isroff had 10 kills and four block assists in the loss, while fellow junior Julia Lenik and sophomore Alli Farmer added nine kills, apiece. Freshman Kenslie Warmbrodt recorded 22 assists and had three aces for the Blue and Gold, while senior libero Brenda Reynaga posted 21 digs and three aces of her own.
Late in the first set, Canisius trailed 20-17 before a kill by Isroff and three attack errors by Dartmouth gave the Blue and Gold the 21-20 lead. However, the lead would be short-lived for the Griffs, as the Big Green answered with the contest's next four points to take a 24-21 advantage. After Canisius scored to make the score 24-22, Imamura put Dartmouth up 1-0 in the match with a kill that sealed the Big Green's 25-22 victory.
In the second set, Canisius trailed 17-13 before a 9-0 run, fueled by a pair of kills by Isroff and Lenik, gave the Griffs a 22-17 advantage. Canisius ended up the match moments later with the 25-19 set victory, which was capped by a service ace from Lenik, one of her two aces on the day. In the second set, the Griffs hit .256 as a team, while holding Dartmouth to a .152 attack percentage.
Out of the intermission, Dartmouth took an early 8-2 lead helped in part by back-to-back service aces from Brown. Canisius cut the score to five at 20-15, but Dartmouth closed the door late in the set thanks to a pair of service aces from Irmak Makasci and a pair of kills Imamura.
A kill by Isroff midway through the fourth frame cut Dartmouth's lead to 10-9, but the Big Green answered with 10 of the frame's next 11 points to take a 20-10 advantage. Dartmouth hit .333 as a team in the final set, while Canisius recorded a .077 team hitting percentage.
GAME NOTES
• Prior to Friday night, Canisius and Dartmouth had never met in volleyball. This weekend, the two teams played twice in the span of 44 hours.
• Isroff was named to the Canisius/UB Invitational All-Tournament Team after she posted 29 kills, a solo block and seven block assists.
• Warmbrodt's 22 assist effort on Sunday marks her third match this season with 20-or more assists, and she extended her streak of having multiple service aces to three games, as well.
• Freshman Emily Helmers had a season-high five block assists for the Griffs and matched a season-high with three digs.
UP NEXT
Canisius will return to action Sept. 13 when the Griffs take on Syracuse in the Flower City Volleyball Invite at St. John Fisher University in Rochester, N.Y. Game time is set for 1 p.m.
