The Canisius volleyball team defeated Saint Francis (Pa.), 3-1, to earn a split of its opening-day matches Friday at the Youngstown State Invitational in Youngstown, Ohio.
In the Golden Griffins (1-1) opening contest of the season against the host Youngstown State Penguins (1-0), Canisius rallied to force a fifth set, but ultimately fall short, losing 3-2 (25-23, 18-25, 21-25, 25-21, 8-15).
Against the Red Flashes, the Blue and Gold used a 4-0 scoring spurt late in the fourth set to score their first win of the 2023 campaign, while also handing St. Francis (Pa.) its first loss of the new season.
MATCH ONE RECAP:
The Penguins and Griffs battled throughout the first set, with neither team able to take a sizable lead through the frame. Ahead 20-18, Youngstown State rattled off four straight points to make the score 22-20 in favor of the home team. After an attack error by Youngstown State made the score 22-21 in favor of the Penguins, Canisius closed out the set with a 4-1 scoring run to earn the 25-23 victory, as junior Kara Zaucha‘s sixth kill of the frame serving as set-point for the Blue and Gold.
Youngstown State controlled the second set, using a .289 (16-5-38) hitting percentage, to even the match 1-1 thanks to a 25-18 victory. In the third set, the Griffs fought back from a six-point hole to eventually take a 14-13 lead in the frame, however, the Penguins regained the momentum and outscored the Blue and Gold 8-4 down the stretch to score the 25-21 win in the third set to take a 2-1 lead in the contest.
Early in the fourth set, Canisius would use a pair of kills from graduate student Ella Loussia and Zaucha to take an early 8-5 lead before using a 7-5 spurt to jump ahead 15-10 at the media timeout. Out of that break, the two sides would exchange the first couple scores before a brief 3-0 run, led by points from Loussia and sophomore Bella Mosquera, gave the Griffs a six-point edge at 19-13. Despite a late push by Youngstown State, the Griffs held on to score the victory in the fourth set by the score of 25-21.
The Penguins took an early 4-1 lead in the fifth and deciding set, but the Griffs rallied to make the score 8-6 midway through. However, the Penguins pushed back and ended up winning the set and the match thanks to a 7-2 run late.
Canisius junior Avery Dole led the Griffs with 37 assists and 18 digs, both of which set new career-highs. Zaucha added in 17 kills which fell one short of her career-best 18, freshman Lauren Hubert collected 12 kills in her collegiate debut. At the net, fellow freshman Kalia Reisma added in a team-best four total blocks.
Elise Moeller paced the Penguins with 21 kills, while Josi Borum added in 32 assists. As a team, Youngstown State hit .225 (67-27-178) en route to the win.
MATCH TWO RECAP:
In the team’s second match of the day, three Canisius players posted double-digits in the kills column and Dole dished out a career-best 39 assists, as the Griffs scored a 3-1 victory over St. Francis (Pa.). Louissa pounded down a match-high 18 kills in the win for the Blue and Gold, while Zaucha chipped in 15 kills and Hubert was good for another dozen kills on the day.
As a team, Canisius hit .316 for the contest, as the team committed just 14 errors on 114 swings. Dole recorded 14 digs in the winning cause, while junior Jillian Hanna added 11 digs and three services aces to the cause. Reisma helped the Blue and Gold’s defensive effort at the net with four total blocks, as the Red Flash hit just .206 for the match.
After Canisius took the first set 25-22, St. Francis (Pa.) evened the match at 1-1 thanks to a 25-20 set victory in the second frame. Canisius scored five-straight points midway through the third set to take a 14-8 lead in the frame and then closed the set by scoring four of the frame’s final six points en route to the 25-18 victory. In the fourth set, three different 4-0 runs helped push the Griffs to the 25-19 victory in the set, and the 3-1 win of the match.
MATCH NOTES:
• This marked the second-straight season where Canisius and Youngstown State met on the volleyball court.
• Friday’s meeting between the Griffs and the Red Flash was the first for the two programs since the 2019 campaign.
• Hanna, Bella Mosquera and Reisma all started in their Canisius debuts against Youngstown State. Hubert also made her Blue and Gold debut against the Penguins, coming off the bench.
• Dole’s double-double in the first match of the day was the first of her Canisius career.
• Hanna led the team in service aces across both matches, posting two against Youngstown State and three versus Saint Francis (Pa.)
• Sophomore Alyssa Rich‘s service ace against Youngstown State was the first of her Canisius career.
UP NEXT:
Canisius will wrap up its season-opening tournament at Youngstown State with an 11 a.m. match against Belmont. The match between the Griffs and Bruins will be streamed on the Youngstown State Athletics YouTube page.
