SCORE: Niagara 3, Canisius 0 (25-19, 25-10, 25-19)
RECORDS: Niagara (8-13, 6-3 MAAC), Canisius (5-13, 3-6 MAAC)

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Niagara University volleyball team dominated archrival Canisius in straight sets on Thursday night.

Match Summary

• Niagara controlled the match from the start, getting off to quick leads in each set.
• Niagara finished with a season-high .405 hitting percentage and was on pace to set the program record of .459 in the third set.
• The Purple Eagles had a .344 attacking percentage in the first set. Niagara jumped out to an early 10-4 lead. The Purple Eagles had their lead cut three points on three separate occasions, with the Purple Eagles answering with a point. Caroline Leitch had a kill to make the score 16-12, Alex Stone had a kill at 18-14 and a block at 19-15. Leitch ended the set with one of her four kills in the set.
• Niagara followed an efficient first set with a dominating second set performance. The Purple Eagles had a sensational .700 attacking percentage with 14 kills and zero errors on 20 attempts. NU took the home crowd out of the match with another fast start to open the set. The Purple Eagles built another 10-4 through 14 points and closed the set on a 15-4 run.  
• After racing out to a 6-2 lead to start the third set, Niagara's lead was trimmed to 14-12. However, NU scored five straight points. The lead was cut to 21-19 before the Purple Eagles finished the match with a 4-0 spurt.

 
Purple Points

• The Purple Eagles have won six of their last seven matches, including four straight.
• Niagara has won nine of the last 11 meetings with Canisius, including three straight.
• Niagara improved to 7-1 in its last eight trips to Canisius (lone defeat was in 2013).
• Caroline Leitch led NU with a career-high 11 kills and had a match-high .733 attacking percentage. Nicole Matheis and Alex Stone each had 10 kills.
• Alexis Gray led the match with 35 assists and added eight digs.
• Rylee Hunt extended her double-digit digs streak to 20 matches with a match-high 12 digs.
• The Purple Eagles earned one point in this year's Battle of the Bridge, the all-sport competition between Niagara and Canisius (Niagara trails 2-1). The next meeting will be on Nov. 6 at 6 p.m. from the Gallagher Center

Coach's Corner

• "We had a lot of pieces come together tonight; serving, passing, offense and defense. When that happens, I'm not surprised a sweep was the result. I love our balanced attack and our transition work tonight. I felt the pressure we put on Canisius with our serving made all the difference in the result." – Head coach Vilis Ozols 

Up Next

• The Purple Eagles will play their next matches on the road against Saint Peter's (Oct. 22) and Rider (Oct. 23).

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