Junior outside hitter Kara Zaucha collected a career-high 20 kills to propel Canisius to a 3-2 (25-15, 25-20, 17-25, 18-25, 17-15) victory over Rider in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference volleyball action Sunday afternoon at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville, N.J.
Along with Zaucha’s 20 kills, the Golden Griffins (5-11, 3-5 MAAC) were helped by a double-double from freshman outside hitter Lauren Hubert (16 kills, 25 digs) as well as 12 kills and three total blocks from sophomore middle blocker Bella Mosquera. Junior libero Jillian Hanna tied her career-high in digs with 24 while sophomore setter Ella Bourque totaled 43 assists.
Paige Giehtbrock led Rider (5-11, 4-4 MAAC) with 19 kills while her teammate, Ryley Frye, added in 25 assists. Keegan O’Connor totaled a team-best 22 digs and at the net, Molly Rhode represented six of the Broncs 16 total blocks.
With the match tied 2-2 and heading to the decisive fifth set, the two sides traded points before a quick 2-0 burst, featuring two kills by Zaucha, gave the Griffs a 9-7 lead. Still, the Broncs would retake control of the set with a 4-0 run that flipped the score in their favor, 11-9.
Canisius had another run in them, this time using a 4-1 spurt to take a slim 13-12 lead late in the set. The teams exchanged scores with the score now at 15-all after a service error from the Broncs Carly Zimmet. With the ball back in the Griffs side of the court, they would close the match out, using Hubert’s 16th kill of the contest to take the lead before using a Rider attack error to leave the Garden State with a 3-2 win and 2-0 sweep of the weekend.
Earlier in the contest, Canisius used a 13-4 run midway through the first set to build a commanding 18-9 lead on its way to 25-15 opening-frame victory.
Similar to the first set, Canisius would use another long scoring stretch in the second stanza, this time a 13-6 spurt paced by three kills from Zaucha over the middle part of the frame, to take a commanding 17-10 lead. Even with a late push from Rider, Canisius would hold on to take the set, 25-20, and build a 2-0 lead.
The Broncs battled back, holding Canisius to a .108 (9-8-37) hitting percentage in the third set and .095 (10-6-42) clip in the fourth set while hitting nearly above .150 in both sets to tie the match 2-2, setting the stage for the decisive fifth set.
MATCH NOTES
• Under head coach Tom Hanna, Canisius is a perfect 6-0 against schools from New Jersey. Hanna himself is also from the Garden State
• Canisius picked up its first five-set victory of the season as it moved to 1-5 in five-set matches in 2023
• The Griffs fifth set score of 17-15 marked the first instance since Oct. 24, 2021, against Fairfield that they needed more than 15 points to win the final frame. Canisius took the final frame by a final score of 16-14 to defeat the Stags
• Both sides hit below .200 during the contest with Canisius at .179 (55-22-184) and Rider at .162 (58-27-191)
• The Blue and Gold had seven total blocks compared to 16 for Rider. This is only the fourth time under Hanna that Canisius has won when recording less blocks than their opponents
• This is the 13th time in her career and first instance since Sept. 30 against Niagara that Bourque produced 40-or-more assists.
• Mosquera produced double-digit kills for the fifth time this season with her 12 kill outing this afternoon.
• Hubert’s 25 digs shatter her previous season-high of 17 which she set at Duquesne on Sept. 1, 2023
UP NEXT
Canisius returns home to face Marist on Oct. 14. Opening serve is set for noon at the Koessler Athletic Center.
