Nov. 17, 2006
Final Stats
Freshman Kaui Robello had five kills, eight digs, two aces and two blocks and senior Christie Gustafson led all players with 19 kills as Siena used an unselfish, balanced effort to dispose of Canisius 3-0 (30-19, 31-29, 30-19) in the semi-finals of the MAAC Tournament Friday night at the Milk House in Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex.
The second-seeded Saints will play top-seed Fairfield, a 3-0 winner over Manhattan in the first semi-final of the day, at 3 p.m. Saturday. Fairfield swept the season series, but Siena upset Fairfield in last year's MAAC Championship. The winner will advance to the NCAA Tournament.
"I was very pleased with the team's performance today," head coach Garvey Pierre said. "Everyone got involved and we played with great confidence. We were extremely effective passing the ball and controlling their attack."
The Saints had swept the season series with the Golden Griffins, but needed five games to win in Buffalo late in the season.
On this night, Siena dictated the action from the start. The Saints rolled to a 30-19 win in the first game limiting the Griffs to just four team kills. In a competitive second game, Canisius rallied from a 25-20 deficit to tie the game, 25-25, but Gustafson put down consecutive kills to clinch the win. With the score tied 11-11, the Saints went on a 9-2 run to put the third game away.
Sophomore setter April London played one of her strongest matches of the season. London collected 42 of the team's 45 assists and killed four of her 10 attacks.
Freshman Burgandy McCurty, who was named MAAC Rookie of the Year yesterday, was solid, tallying 10 kills while posting a .417 attack percentage.
Canisius was led by Mary Boller with 10 kills. Morgan Ammons added eight and led all players with a .538 attack percentage. The Golden Griffins has 12 blocks, compared to Siena's seven. Gustafson and defensive specialist Jessica Hackett each had 10 of the Saints' 43 digs.
Siena improves to 21-12 on the season, surpassing their win total from last season.
