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JERSEY CITY, N.J. - In a match that required 29 and a half hours to complete, the Manhattan College volleyball team (14-12, 7-6 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) dropped a 25-23, 25-17, 25-19 decision to Canisius (11-14, 6-8 MAAC) at Saint Peter's College's Yanitelli Center on Sunday evening. The teams played one set at Riverdale Country School on Saturday afternoon before a power outage forced a suspension. The match had originally been relocated because of a schedule conflict at Draddy Gymnasium.
On Saturday, the teams played a competitive first set that featured eight ties and three lead changes. Manhattan scored the first three points of the match, but Canisius rallied to tie it at 6-6. With the score knotted at 8-8, an Alexa Lampasona (Remsenburg, N.Y.) kill sparked a 5-0 run that put the Jaspers in front 13-8. The Griffs stormed back, however, taking a 17-16 advantage before a kill by Brittany DeGagne (Penticton, B.C.) tied it. After the Jaspers took a 19-18 lead on a LaKell Havens (St. George, Utah) kill, the Griffs scored five of the next six points to go up 23-20. Manhattan fought off one set point at 24-22 before Canisius converted its second opportunity, taking the set 25-23. The teams had identical offensive lines on Saturday, each pounding 17 kills compared to four errors in 34 swings for a hitting percentage of .382.
Saturday's freak October snowstorm caused the power at Riverdale to flicker throughout the first set, and it was lost for good during the break before the start of the second. After a delay of roughly 35 minutes, both teams, in consultation with the MAAC office, decided to suspend the match.
The conclusion was moved to Saint Peter's early Sunday morning and represented the second match of the day for both teams. Manhattan played Canisius less than three hours after a tough five-set loss to Niagara, while the Griffs had barely 30 minutes to get ready for the Jaspers after knocking off Saint Peter's in three sets.
After the hard-fought showdown with Niagara earlier in the day, Manhattan fell behind 6-3 early in the second set of the Canisius match. The Jaspers pulled back within one at 7-6, but the Griffs responded with a 9-2 run to extend their lead to 16-8. Canisius extended its advantage to nine at 21-12 before Manhattan used a 4-1 run to trim its deficit to six, 22-16. However, that's as close as the Jaspers would get. The Griffs scored three of the next four points to wrap up the set, 25-17.
In a back-and-forth third set that included 11 ties, the lead changed hands four times. Canisius broke open a 7-7 deadlock with a 5-1 run that made it 12-8, but the Jaspers responded with eight of the next 11 points, taking a 16-15 lead of their own on a block by Maddie Heck (Corte Madera, Calif.) and Malia McGuinness (Kailua, Hawaii). However, the Griffs took control from there, earning 10 of the final 13 points to seal a 25-19 set win and a 3-0 match victory.
Havens recorded a team-high 12 kills on .348 hitting, while Lampasona had nine kills and hit .381. McGuinness also notched nine kills to go along with a match-high 22 digs. Mariana Furquim (Curitiba, Brazil) finished with eight kills and eight digs, and Hollegn Henderson (Long Beach, Calif.) distributed 39 assists. As a team, the Jaspers hit .189 (44-20-127) in the match.
For Canisius, Danielle Brawn had a double-double with 15 kills and 15 digs. She also registered two service aces. Samantha Good added 11 kills on .500 hitting to go along with three solo blocks. Janelle Davis handed out 38 assists, and Allyson Severyn tallied 13 digs, as the Griffs outdug the Jaspers 56-53. Canisius hit .270 (42-11-115) as a team.
The Jaspers have another quick turnaround before their next match, a 7 p.m. showdown at Rider (5-21, 3-11 MAAC) on Wednesday. The matchup with the Broncs is the third of five MAAC matches in eight days for Manhattan.
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