The Canisius College volleyball team dropped a pair of matches to Youngstown State and Stony Brook Friday night, in the Koessler Athletic Center in the first round of the WNY Holiday Inn Volleyball Invitational. With the two losses, Canisius falls to 2-9 on the year.

Canisius dropped the first game of the tournament to visiting Youngstown St. 3-1 (30-20, 18-30, 16-30, 28-30). Sophomore Christina Wildes posted a game-high 21 kills in the loss to the Penguins, who saw their record move to 5-6 overall with the road victory. Freshman Leigh Launhardt had 10 kills in the losing effort, and junior setter Jackie Reed was credited with a team-best 37 assists. Senior Kelly Sieber posted 20 digs as well. The Penguins had four players score double-digit kills, led by Colleen Royer's 19 kills on 34 attempts. Setter Angie Pasquinelli collected a game-high 53 assists.

The Golden Griffins fell to Stony Brook 3-0 in the nightcap by scores of 30-32, 27-30, 24-30. With the win, the Seawolves improve their overall record to 10-3 this season. Stony Brook's Danielle MacKnight had 13 kills to lead the Seawolves. Rachel Goldsmith was credited with 11 kills and setter Julie Zub dished out 37 assists in the winning effort.

Wildes led Canisius with 13 kills. Fellow sophomore Kim Hoffman had nine kills, while Reed posted 34 assists and 10 digs in the losing effort. Canisius was able to score seven blocks as a team, led by Launhardt and junior Nicole Lucie, who were both credited with five block assists apiece.

The Griffs will be back in action with two more games in the Koessler Athletic Center on Saturday. Canisius will play host to Cleveland State at 10 a.m., in the first of three games scheduled on day two of the WNY Holiday Inn Volleyball Invitational. The Blue and Gold will also play host to local rival Buffalo at 7 p.m., in the KAC. Stony Brook and Cleveland St. will also play in the KAC, with game time set for 4:30 p.m.