Canisius Defeats Rival Niagara in Four Sets to Win Fifth Place Match
MAAC Sports
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Seventh seeded Canisius College defeated the sixth seeded Niagara University 3-1 in the fifth place match of the 2014 MAAC Volleyball Championship at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
The first set was all Canisius as they defeated Niagara 25-9. With the Griffs up 11-7, a service ace started a 14-2 run to close out the set and take a 1-0 lead in the match.
In the second set, it was all Niagara as they defeated Canisius 25-16. The Purple Eagles came out on a roll leading the set 10-3 before a Canisius timeout. Alex Stone and Melissa McGwin led Niagara with 3 kills each.
The third set was a back and forth draw that saw 13 ties and seven lead changes. In the end, Canisius came out on top 25-22. With the score tied at 21, Rachel Kline delivered a kill to start a mini 4-1 run to end the set.
The fourth and final set went to Canisius by a score of 25-19. Down 7-3, the Griffs went on a 7-2 run to take the lead, which was started by a service error and an attack error by Niagara. The closest Niagara got to Canisius was 20-19, but the Griffs attack was too much to handle as they took the next five points of the match.
For match play, Lauren Siebert led the Golden Griffins with 14 kills, with Kline adding 11 kills and 15 digs. Stone, who had 13 kills, led Niagara, while Gray contributed with 36 assists and 12 digs.
Canisius finishes the season with a record of 12-20, while Niagara finishes the year with a mark of 14-8.