College Volleyball
Canisius College 3, Rider University 0
BUFFALO, N.Y.--Despite 12 kills and two blocks from sophomore middle hitter Brittany Hayes (Mitchelleville, Md./Elizabeth Seton), the Broncs lost a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference match at Canisius Saturday afternoon. “We are still going through the learning process,” said head coach Emily Ahlquist. “Our middle hitters did a great job passing but we didn't execute very well after that. We need to be more consistent on the outside.”
The Golden Griffs won in three games 30-19, 30-12, 33-31.
For Rider (1-9, 0-1 MAAC), freshman Amanda Piccolini (St. Clairsville, Ohio/St. Clairsville) had 14 assists with sophomore Shannon Bures (Shelton, Conn./Shelton) adding 11 assists and five digs.
In game one with the score 13-11, Canisius went on a 9-3 run to open up a 10 point lead (24-14) enroute to the 30-19 win.
In the second game, the Golden Griffs jumped out to a 20-6 lead, winning 30-12.
In the third game, Rider jumped out to an 8-3 lead on the strength of two service aces by Piccolini. Down 22-14, Canisius came back with an 11-3 run to tie the game at 25. With the score tied at 31, a service error and attack error by Rider won it for the Golden Griffs.
“We made some adjustments in the third game and that seemed to help a lot,” Ahlquist added. “Then we made some bad mental mistakes at the end of the game and Canisius was able to pull out the win.”
Also for Rider, sophomore Amy Jeary (Depew, N.Y./St. Mary's) added 13 digs.
The Broncs stay in Western New York for a MAAC match at Niagara at noon on Sunday.
“Overall, we just to be more consistent throughout the entire match,” Ahlquist added. “We made way too many unforced errors and that is something that we can correct going into the match on Sunday.”
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