The Griffin

By Tracey Penner
Sports Writer

The Canisius College women’s volleyball team swept Niagara to win their 20th match of the season, a record number of wins since 1987.  The win improved the Griffs to 20-9 overall and 14-4 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.  On Saturday, six Canisius seniors were given their  framed jerseys to celebrate their last game at the Koessler Athletic Center.

Senior Mary Boller posted a match-high 15 kills, giving her 401 kills in the regular season and making her the seventh player in school history to post 400-plus kills in a single season.  Fellow senior Leigh Launhardt added 14 kills to go along with a solo block and six block assists.

Senior Aislinn Hayes recorded eight kills, seven digs and three block assists, while senior Jen Smith was credited with six kills, six digs, five assists and two service aces.  Senior Emily McNabb had three kills and a block assist and senior Lauren Brosius added nine assists, two digs, one kill and a block assist in her first start of the season.

Canisius will compete in the 2006 MAAC Volleyball Championships this weekend.

By Heather Mitchell
Copy Reader

The Canisius College men’s and women’s cross country teams wrapped up their 2006 season at the NCAA Northeast Regional race Saturday in Bronx, N.Y.

Finishing first for the men was junior Christian Volk, with his 36:06 earning him 167th place overall. Sophomore Brett Finnan ran the 10K in 36:58 and finished in 192nd overall, while fellow sophomore Justin Weldon placed 199th with his 37:18. Other strong performances for the Griffs included Matt Butters and Vasilis Kariolis. The men’s team took 31st overall out of the field of 38, compiling 940 points.
Continue Reading »

Freshman Josh Heidinger’s two goals and one assist against Air Force earned  him the Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Week honors, making it the second time this year that he has been given this award.

Leading the team with 15 points, Heidinger is also tied for fourth in the league in points and is second on the team with four goals. The freshman has had at least one point in nine of eleven games this season for Canisius and has scored a point in all seven in-conference games.

Canisius is now the only team in the country to have Rookie of the Week honors for five weeks out of a possible six. The other Griffs that have had Rookie of the week honors this year are goaltender Andrew Loewen, defenseman Carl Hudson twice and Heidinger on one other occasion.

Heidinger and the Griffs take on rival Mercyhurst twice this weekend. They play  at 7 p.m. tonight at the Amherst Pepsi Center and are away at 7 p.m. Saturday night in Erie.

Leigh Launhardt won herself the title of Defensive Player of the Week this week by helping her team sweep Niagara 3-0 in the volleyball teams’ final game of the regular season.The senior shares the honors with Siena’s Kathi Kobayashi.

Launhardt had a solo block and six block assists in the Niagara game. On the season, the middle hitter has produced some record breaking numbers. She currently owns the school record for block assists with 326, and this year became the first player in history to have 100-plus block assists in a season.

Launhardt is also going into this week’s Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship 11 career blocks shy of holding the all-time Canisius record of 456, currently held by former Griff Sharron Zaranek.

The Griffs finished their season with a 20-9 overall record and a 14-4 MAAC record. This weekend the team travels to the MAAC Championship at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The winner of the tournament will automatically earn a birth in the 2006 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championships.

By Giovanni D’Onza
Sports Writer

The Canisius College hockey team displayed an impressive ability to play a man down when two shorthanded goals proved to be the deciding factor in a 4-1 victory over Air Force Sunday at the Buffalo State Sports Arena.

Eric Ehn scored the first goal of the game for Air Force while newly named Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Week, Josh Heidinger, netted his fourth of the season, so the teams went into the second period tied at one.
Continue Reading »

By Meg Walker
Sports Writer

Freshman Megan Smith broke the school record in the 100 butterfly at this weekend’s swim meet at Niagara University. Smith broke the record by 1.72 seconds, finishing with a time of 1:01.96, finishing barley out of first place. This record was previously held by Melissa Griffin, who set it in 1994.

The women’s team defeated Saint Peter’s 157-54, lost a close one to Manhattan 109-106, and also lost to Niagara 126.5-91.5. The men’s team lost to Niagara 133-88 and to Saint Peter’s 123-106.
Continue Reading »

By Anna Pawlaczyk
Sports Editor

For most Americans, Thanksgiving is a time we spend with family and give thanks for all the good things we have in our lives. It’s also a time to eat excessive amounts of turkey, pass out in a tryptophan coma and wake up with just enough time to catch as many great football games as possible, from two teams that have been doing it since 1970, the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys.

When did Thanksgiving become less about turkey and more about pigskin?
Continue Reading »

By Anna Pawlaczyk
Sports Editor

Canisius College junior libero Jess Stackhouse (right) was named the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year Thursday. Stackhouse was also named Co-Defensive player of the year her freshman season. Stackhouse, and senior Mary Boller were named First-Team All-MAAC selections while senior Leigh Launhardt was named Second-Team All-MAAC.

Stackhouse leads the conference with a 5.30 dig-per-game average and has totaled a team-high 551 digs in the Griffin’s winning season. She is ranked first in school history for both these feats.

Stackhouse earned Defensive player of the week four times this season, and she posted 20-plus digs in 13 matches this season. Canisius was one of two schools to have two players named to the first team and one of three schools to have at least three players named to either the first or second team.

The Griffs are participating in the MAAC Tournament at the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. through Saturday. Currently, they have advanced to the semifinals.

By Anna Pawlaczyk
Sports Editor

Along with a 74-58 win over cross town rival University at Buffalo, the women’s basketball team  set some personal records in the process.

Sophomore Amanda Cavo matched her career high three-pointer record, netting six, and scored the highest number of points for the Lady Griffs with 22. The last time the Cavo sunk six three pointers was in last February against Niagara. In the first half, Cavo sunk eleven points and went 4 for 5 in the first half, finishing off 7 for 14 overall for the game and 6 for 8 from behind the arc.
Continue Reading »

By Sydney Hunte
Sports Writer

One moment, Koessler Athletic Center was at fever pitch as the Canisius men’s basketball team ran up the floor with a chance to win its season opener over Buffalo.  The next moment, Griffs fans looked on in disbelief as the Bulls shot free throws to seal the win.

A costly Canisius turnover and foul on the game’s potential final possession sent University at Buffalo to the line and handed the Griffs a heartbreaking 72-69 loss in front of a raucous crowd at the KAC.
Continue Reading »