CANISIUS COLLEGE ATHLETICS
Game Recap
The Canisius volleyball team posted a team hitting percentage of .467 for the match and the Golden Griffins recorded a season-high 14 service aces en route to a 3-0 sweep of Siena in MAAC volleyball action Saturday afternoon in the Koessler Athletic Center.
The Griffs, who won by scores of 25-6, 25-10, 25-15, improved to 11-10 overall and 9-3 in MAAC play, while the Saints slipped to 1-22 overall and 0-11 with their 14th-straight loss.
Freshman Melina Woods led the way for Canisius with her match-high 10 kills, while fellow freshman Camila Vazquez was credited with nine kills in the winning effort for the Blue and Gold. Senior Sara Wesley added eight kills and two block assists and junior setter Cassidy Ceriani recorded 33 assists for Canisius to go with three kills. Senior libero Sofia Lopez Acosta had 15 digs and was also credited with a career-high five service aces for Canisius, which improved to 5-0 at home for the first time in program history.
Canisius jumped all over Siena in the first set for the 25-6 win as the team hit .565, while Siena hit just .185 as a team. The six points allowed by the Griffs are the fewest for an opponent in a set this season.
In the second set, Lopez Acosta had four service aces to fuel the Blue and Gold’s 25-10 victory. In the final set, Canisius led 13-10 before a pair of kills from freshman Hannah Nelson and a service ace by Lopez Acosta stretched the Blue and Gold’s cushion to 16-10. Canisius pulled away later in the set thanks to four-straight kills, with two coming from Wesley and one each from Woods and junior Leah Simmons.
Canisius junior Carly Shifflet had 12 digs, a kill and a service aces in the victory, while sophomore Andrea Diaz Lopez contributed a career-high three service aces to the winning cause in her first appearance since Sept. 30 at Manhattan.
Siena’s Nicole Deobler had a team-high six kills for the Saints and Jessica Eblin was credited with 13 assists.
Head Coach Lenika Vazquez‘s Postgame Comments
“The things that I can tell you I am most proud of is the depth we are showing. Our subs are going in and making an impact right away, there is a lot of communication. The people that have been starting recently are playing at a very high level, so all the way around, I’m very proud of them.
There is little that compares to looking in the stands and seeing your family and your friends. The great thing about our Griff fans is the students show up here, but our families show up on the road, too. So, the support we have had home and away has been tremendous.”
Game Notes
• Saturday marked the 48th all-time meeting between Canisius and Siena in volleyball, with the Saints holding a 33-16 lead in the series.
• Saturday’s win by Canisius gives the Griffs a season sweep of Siena after the Blue and Gold beat the Saints 3-1 on the road on Sept. 16. This is Canisius’ first regular-season sweep of Siena since the 2011 campaign.
• Saturday’s 3-0 win over Siena is Canisius’ first home sweep of the Saints since Nov. 6, 2011.
• Canisius is over .500 (11-10 overall) for the first time since August of 2016, when the team was 2-1. This is the latest Canisius has been over .500 in a season since November 2012.
• Canisius has dropped just one set at home this season, with that coming Sept. 22 in the third set against Saint Peter’s.
• Lopez Acosta’s five service aces on Saturday are the most for a Canisius player in a three-set match since former Griff Sarah Podlesh set a school-record with nine aces in a sweep of St. Francis Brooklyn back on Sept. 23, 2005.
Up Next
Canisius will continue its five-match homestand on Sunday when the team plays host to Marist in the Koessler Athletic Center. Action is set to set at 1 p.m., and the contest will be broadcast live on ESPN3. Marist is one of three teams to defeat Canisius in league play this season, as the Red Foxes knocked off the Griffs 3-1 in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., back on Sept. 15 in the Griffs’ conference opener.
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