By Colton Pankiewicz, Sports Editor
Canisius volleyball has continued their disappointing September. With losses at Fairfield and Quinnipiac last weekend, the Griffs’ last win now dates back to Aug. 26 against Belmont.
Arriving in Fairfield in the midst of a five-match skid, Canisius was very loose against the Stags, losing in their first three set sweep of the season by scores of 25–17, 25–9 and 25–23. Their aggressive attack may have hurt more than helped, posting a hitting percentage of 6.3% in comparison to the Stags’ hitting percentage of 26.3%. Freshman Cameron Grange had her best showing as a Griff, finishing with 11 kills and a block. Head coach Tom Hanna even expressed his surprise at Grange showing so much promise this early on in her career. Junior Jillian Hanna led the Griffs in digs, keeping 13 balls from the floor in the loss.
In their Sunday match against the defending MAAC Champions the Quinnipiac Bobcats, Canisius didn’t fare well. They lost in another three-set sweep, with scores of 25–17, 25–18 and 25–18. The match saw Canisius’s hitting percentage improve to 20.2%, up almost 14% from the day before. The improvement still wasn’t enough, though, and puts Canisius at 0–2 in conference play.
Canisius isn’t in unfamiliar territory sitting at 2–8 through 10 matches, the same exact mark they were at last year through that span. They do, however, have a younger roster this year, with five freshmen, six sophomores, three juniors and just one graduate student, and with more experience usually comes more consistent play.
Going into this weekend's homestand against Manhattan and Iona, head coach Tom Hanna will be looking for his team to erase the zero out of the win column in MAAC play. “It’s always going to be the same with me: I want more sideouts and less service errors. I’m always going to coach aggressively and want points off of the serve,” said Hanna. Canisius’ match on Saturday against Manhattan will mean a little bit more as it serves as the Griffs’ senior night as well.