LOUDONVILLE, NY – The Siena Saints volleyball team ended their first conference weekend with many positives, as they team fought back from an early 2-0 deficit to win a set. But, the Saints would drop the match 3-1 to the Canisius Golden Griffins at the Alumni Recreation Center on Sunday afternoon. Leah Simmons led the way for Canisius, putting up match-highs in kills with 21 and attack percentage with .474.

For the second straight day, sophomore Nicole Deobler led the Siena (1-11, 0-2 MAAC) offense with 11 kills, the only Saint in double digits. Fellow sophomore Brooke Rogers also had a strong game, finishing second in kills with seven, hitting a team-high .389. Senior Julia Burzynski provided a spark off the bench late in the match with four kills. Sophomore JoJo Ishida collected a team-high 18 kills, while Jessica Eblin tossed out 26 assists.

For Canisius (3-8, 1-1 MAAC), Simmons' effort was supplemented by Camila Vazquez, who dropped in 10 kills while hitting .444. Melina Woods also provided nine kills, as setter Cassidy Ceriani tossed out 45 assists. Sofia Lopez Acosta led the team in digs with 18.

"The team showed a lot of heart in the way that they rebounded after our flat start," said head coach Vilis Ozols. "There are not a lot of teams that could do that. Nicole continued her strong play and there were some fabulous individual efforts on the afternoon."

Siena struggled through the first two sets, as Canisius was able to score at will. The Golden Griffins took each of the first two sets by a score of 25-7, as Siena hit a combined -.166 over the first two sets. ON the flip side, Canisius hit .395 over the first two sets to take the early 2-0 lead.

However, Siena would bounce back in the third set, despite an early 40- lead from the Golden Griffins. Siena would catch a spark, as they went on a 5-0 run to take a 5-4 lead thanks to a trio of kills from Deobler. Canisius would respond, taking a 15-10 lead going down the stretch in the set. But the Saints would march back again, pulling even at 18-18 and going point for point to the end. Kills by Deobler, Eblin, and Rogers set up the game-winning point on a bad set from Canisius, giving the Saints a 25-23 win and putting the match at 2-1.

The fourth set would be a battle from both sides, as Siena looked to equalize the match. With the set 15-15, the Golden Griffins jumped ahead with three straight points at 18-15. They wouldn't relinquish the lead, taking the set 25-21 and the 3-1 win.

The Saints return to the floor this Friday, Sept. 21 when they play host to Marist at the ARC. First serve is set to go up at 7 p.m.