Riley Imamura's Career-Best 16 Kills, 19 Points Powers Dartmouth Past Canisius

Sunday, September 6

Amherst, N.Y.

2:00 PM

Dartmouth College

2-1,0-0Ivy League

Canisius

0-7,0-0Metro

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Dartmouth	25	19	25	25	3
Canisius	22	25	15	14	1

Photo by: Nick LoVerde

Riley Imamura's Career-Best 16 Kills, 19 Points Powers Dartmouth Past Canisius

9/6/2026 4:11:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: mwaterman

BUFFALO, N.Y. - Dartmouth volleyball closed out its weekend in Buffalo with a 3-1 win over Canisius, taking the match 25-22, 19-25, 25-15, 25-14 to improve to 2-1 on the season. Canisius falls to 0-8. Sophomore Riley Imamura led way for the Big Green with a career high performance of 16 kills and 19 points.

The first set was tight from the opening point, with the two teams trading the lead and tying the score nine different times. Canisius jumped out 1-0 on a Dartmouth service error, and the teams stayed within a point of each other through the first 14 points, with kills from Zori Brown and Imamura keeping the Big Green in front in stretches. The Big Green finally started to pull away getting a service ace from Julia York and a kill from Brown to push it to 20-17, but Canisius wasn't finished. The Golden Griffins scored four of the next five points to tie it at 20 and then take a 20-21 lead. Dartmouth answered right back, scoring four straight to go up 24-21, and Imamura closed it out with a kill for a 25-22 win. Dartmouth out-hit Canisius .267 to .080 in the set.

The Golden Griffins flipped the script in the second, using a much stronger night at the net to even the match. The set was close in the early and middle stages as Dartmouth built a brief 19-18 lead off a kill from Irmak Makasci before Canisius seized control with a six-point swing of its own that turned a one-point Dartmouth lead into a 25-19 Canisius win, squaring the match at a set apiece.

Dartmouth answered emphatically in the third, taking control from the opening whistle. Sophia Gagnepain opened the set with a service ace, and the Big Green scored six of the first seven points. Brown had a pair of kills and back-to-back service aces during the run to jump out to an 8-2 lead. The Golden Griffin's offense sputtered the rest of the way, finishing the set hitting a negative .080 with eight attack errors against just six kills, and Dartmouth cruised behind kills from Makasci and Smith to close it out 25-15 and reclaim the match lead.

The Big Green continued their dominant play in the fourth and final set. Raeli Smith opened the frame with three consecutive service aces to help Dartmouth build early separation, and the Big Green never looked back. Gagnepain was steady running the offense and added a service ace of her own, while Maddie LaFata chipped in a pinch-hit kill off the bench. Canisius briefly cut the deficit to five, but Dartmouth answered every push, closing out the set with a kill from Imamura to finish it 25-14.

Imamura had the standout performance for Dartmouth, setting career highs with 16 kills, 19 points and three service aces while hitting .227 on 44 attempts. Brown recorded her latest double-double, finishing with 10 kills and 11 digs to go with 12.5 points and a pair of service aces in the pivotal third set. Smith turned in a career-best of her own, setting new career highs with six digs and 12.5 points, adding six kills and three service aces along the way. Elle McCreery chipped in six kills and a team-high four total blocks, while Makasci added five kills, three service aces of her own and a block. Setters Gagnepain and York combined for 36 assists to keep the Dartmouth attack balanced throughout, and the Big Green out-blocked Canisius 10-9 while forcing 25 Canisius attack errors over the four sets.

The Big Green will be back on the road next weekend as they play in the Ellis Rowland Memorial Tournament.