Box Score
JERSEY CITY - Saint Peter's women's volleyball put their best foot forward as they battled Canisius Sunday afternoon at the Yanitelli Center. The Peacocks took the Griffs to four sets, 1-3 (25-27, 25-16, 17-25, 21-25) winning the second set in the match.
Budna was one kill shy of matching her career high of 16 as she led the flock with15 kills along with a team best kill percentage of .438. Freshman, Kristina Nieves followed Budna with eight kills and Carolina Ruiz added the team high of 14 digs. Danielle Lopez added six kills and 11 digs and setter, Kaitlyn Sitton, posted 37 assists.
Early in the first set, the Peacocks broke a tied score 4-4 leading the Griffs 6-5. Canisius then jumped ahead, scoring five points posting the score of 10-6. Saint Peter's was able to break the deficit at 8-11 with a 6-point run leading the Griffs 14-11. The Peacocks kept a strong lead for the next couple of plays until the Griffs closed in at 17-18. Both teams went point for point until Canisius scored the last two points finishing the set 27-25.
Saint Peter's kept their high energy as they led the Griffs 9-1 early in the second set. The Griffs were unable to catch up to the Peacocks as Saint Peter's took a ten point lead at 4-14. The Peacocks kept their poise as several kills by Nieves, Amanda Colombo, Meredith Przybocki, and a service ace, upped their score to 19-9. It was then that Saint Peter's allowed the Griffs six more points before taking the set 25-15.
In the third set, Canisius had an early lead at 12-3. The Peacocks continued to defend tough plays and were rewarded with two short runs, however, keeping them several points behind the Griffs. Later in the set the Peacocks started to close in at 22-17, but were unable to move past Canisius losing the set 17-25.
In the Fourth set, Canisius led 4-1 before the Peacocks tied at 4-4 then jumped to the lead 7-5. The griffs answered with a short run putting them in the lead 8-7. A sideout by Saint Peter's tied the game before Canisius scored three-straight-points leading the Peacock's 11-8. Saint Peter's, Nieves fueled the team as they outplayed the Griffs the next three plays. Saint Peter's then broke into the lead at 17-15, before the Griffs countered with a 5-point-run upping the score 20-17. A timeout by the Peacocks put them back in the game at 19-21. The Peacocks were able to get two more points off before the Griffs won the set 25-22.
"By far the best match we've played all season," said head coach Monica Dempsey. "I think it was the first stepping stone unfortunately really late in the season, but it was the first one in the right direction and we are really excited for the next match."
next up… Saint Peters will head on the road to compete against Quinnipiac on Oct. 29th and Fairfield on the 30th.
