Sophomore Michelle LeSouder had a match-high 29 kills vs. Fairfield Saturday afternoon.

NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. – An 8-2 run in game five propelled the Fairfield University (6-21, 4-4) volleyball team to a 3-2 (30-27, 30-25, 24-30, 18-30, 15-8) victory over Niagara University (8-19, 4-4) at the Gallagher Center Saturday afternoon.

After falling behind 2-0 in the match, Niagara bounced back to win games three and four and force the fifth game.

"We didn’t come out like we wanted to," Niagara head coach Rocco Lucci said. "The look in their eyes was like they were playing not to lose instead of trying to win.

"We really took it to them in the fourth game but then we had some problems with serve receive and things snowballed. To their credit, (Fairfield’s) experience from being in the (MAAC) tournament before came through in the fifth game."

Sophomore Michelle LeSouder (Stratford, Ont.) had a match-high 29 kills and hit .364 while classmate Erin Graham (Oakville, N.Y./Oakville Alabama) had 24 kills, hit .316 and had 14 digs. Sophomore Jennifer Hansford (Stratford, Ont.) had 62 assists and 12 digs while sophomore Micole Daluisio (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster) added a match-high 24 digs.

Laurie Brands and Casey Machon each had 15 kills for Fairfield.

In game one, Niagara had a 19-15 lead after a four-point run, but Fairfield then went on a 16-8 run to close the game.

The Stags continued to dominate in game two as they took an early 16-10 lead. Niagara went on a 9-3 run to come within a point, 20-19, but Fairfield tallied five of the next six points to lead 24-20. The teams traded points until the Stags recorded three of the final four points.

Niagara took a 15-10 lead in game three and stretched it to 28-18 before giving up six-straight points to lead 28-24. The Purple Eagles capitalized on a Stag error and Graham finished the game with a kill.

The Purple Eagles took a 15-9 lead in the fourth game and extended it to 22-15, before scoring eight of the next 11 points for the victory. LeSouder had eight of her 29 kills in the game.

Niagara opened the fifth game with a trio of LeSouder kills, but Fairfield went on a 6-1 run to take a 7-5 lead. The Purple Eagles collected two more points on back-to-back blocks, but the Stags then closed the match with the 8-2 run.

Niagara returns to action Sunday when it hosts Iona at 1 p.m. in the Gallagher Center in its final regular-season match of the year.