Riverdale, N.Y. (October 15, 2005)--Manhattan Volleyball began MAAC play on Saturday afternoon by sweeping past Canisius College (30-23, 30-20, 30-28) at Draddy Gym. The victory is the Lady Jaspers' seventh out of their last nine matches.
Senior outside hitter
Megan O'Dorisio (San Diego, Calif./Univ. of San Diego HS) continues to put up impressive numbers, as the Californian notched her ninth double-double over the past 12 matches. O'Dorisio finished the contest with a match-high 17 kills to go along with 13 digs. Fellow Californian sophomore outside hitter
Ashley Watson, who is the reigning MAAC Defensive Player of the Week, came up just short of a double-double by pounding out nine kills and digging up 11 Canisius attacks.
Watson (Mountain View, Calif./Los Altos) and the Lady Jaspers controlled the match's tempo throughout the contest en route to the three-game sweep. In the first game, Manhattan never trailed by more than one, and the Lady J's scored the final four points, three of them on O'Dorisio kills, of the frame to seal the win.
With senior setter
Lori Bambauer (New Knoxville, Ohio/New Knoxville) holding serve, Manhattan recorded the first five points of game two, and would never trail, on its way to a ten-point victory. After trailing Canisius by three (10-7) in the third frame, which was Manhattan's largest deficit of the day, the Lady Jaspers regained their form from earlier in the match to post a 7-2 run.
During the spurt, senior
Maggie Pfeifer, who is coming off of her fourth MAAC Offensive Player of the Week selection of 2005, notched two kills, as did junior right side hitter
Meghan Plunkett (Atherton, Calif./St. Francis). Pfeifer (Liberty, Mo./St. Pius X) finished with 12 kills, three digs, and three block assists for the match. Plunkett, who recently broke into the starting line-up, recorded five kills.
Leading the Lady J's in the dig category on Saturday afternoon was senior libero
Ashley Davis (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North). Davis, who is amongst the MAAC leaders in dig, dug up a match-high 18 attacks.
Canisius junior Mary Boller was the only Golden Griffin to record double-digit kills with 10. Fellow junior middle Leigh Launhardt added five kills to go with two solo blocks and a match-high five block assists.
Manhattan Volleyball continues MAAC play at Draddy Gym tomorrow, October 16, at 2:00 p.m. against Niagara University.
