Sept. 21, 2002
BUFFALO, N.Y. - The Cleveland State spikers fought off a determined Canisius College squad Saturday morning at the Kessler Center and beat the Golden Griffins 30-22, 23-30, 33-31, 34-32 in the Western New York/Holiday Inn Invitational.
The Vikings, 10-3, have now won eight straight matches since falling to nationally-ranked Ohio State on Sept. 6 and are off to their best start since the 1983 squad opened 12-3.
Senior Michelle Iafigliola (Mentor, Ohio/Mentor) had a career-high 26 digs and led the Vikes with 19 kills. Sophomore Jamie Bouyer added 17 kills while hiiting .308 and was a defensive force, racking up eight block assists.
In addition, sophomore setter Kelly Crain (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg) equaled her career high of 57 assists and senior middle hitter Kristine Dabbelt equaled a career-best with five block assists.
Canisius' Kim Hoffman took match honors with 21 kills while Nicole Lucie matched Iafigliola's 26 digs.
While CSU won the defensive battle at the net, notching 11 team blocks compared to eight for Canisius, the Golden Griffins pulled up 85 digs compared to 74 for the Vikings.
The Vikes hampered their own efforts by committing 15 service errors compared to six for Canisius. In addition, CSU recorded six service aces - three by freshman Alisa Hatcher (Bellefontaine, Ohio/Bellefontaine) but allowed nine aces by the Golden Griffins.
CSU hit .211 (72K-31E-194TA) compared to .137 (55K-31E-175TA) for Canisius.
