Canisius defeats Saint Peter's in Four Sets at MAAC Championship
MAAC Sports
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Seventh seeded Canisius College picked up a 3-1 victory over ninth seeded Saint Peter’s University in the out-bracket of the 2014 MAAC Volleyball Championship at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
The Griffs opened up the first set on a 16-8 run with Rachel Kline leading the way with four kills during the run and the Griffs continued to control the set leading to set point with the score at 24-19. A Peacocks kill from Dayana Arrufat began a Saint Peter’s 7-0 run which would lead to the set victory at 26-24. Lexandra Wirth paced the way for the Peacocks with four first set kills while Kline finished the set with five.
Much like the first set, the Griffs controlled the second set and got out to an early lead at 7-3 after a kill by Kristin Bendy. Canisius would gain a lead as large as nine in the set after a service error by Saint Peter’s Brittany Smith made the score 20-11. With set point for the Griffs, the Peacocks scored two points to cut the deficit to 24-20 before the Griffs closed out the second set 25-20 and evened the match at 1-1.
Like the second set, Canisius took the third set 25-20. The Griffs led from the first point and never trailed during the set. The Peacocks did manage to tie the set on eight separate occasions but the Griffs responded to every tie and never gave up the lead.
The fourth and final set, seen Canisius earn its third straight 25-20 set victory in the match. Bendy led the way for the Griffs in the set with four kills, while Grace Streicher picked up 12 assists for the Griffs.
Kline finished the match with a double-double on a team high 10 kills and 16 digs. Laurens Behren led the Peacocks with a double-double of a match high 18 kills and 20 digs. Emily Litwin registered a match high 28 digs for the Griffs, while Kayla Howell paced the Peacocks with 24.
Canisius moves on to face fifth seed Rider University at 2p.m. today in the out-bracket. Saint Peter’s 2014 season comes to an end with an overall record of 6-23.