Junior Erin Graham led Niagara with a match-high 15 kills vs. Buffalo Wednesday in the Gallagher Center.

NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. – The Niagara University volleyball team (1-6) lost its fourth home match of the year Wednesday evening in front of 537 fans when it fell to Big Four rival Buffalo (5-5), 22-30, 28-30, 25-30, at the Gallagher Center on the Monteagle Ridge campus.

Junior outside hitter Erin Graham had a match-high 15 kills and classmate Micole Daluisio (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster) added 13 digs. The Purple Eagles hit .145 and had nine service aces.

UB was led by Nikki Morzenti with 13 kills and Tammy Jule and Katie Weekley each added 10 kills. The Bulls hit .295 for the match and added 12 blocking assists.

"I thought we played okay," Niagara head coach Rocco Lucci said. "They put up a big block and we weren’t able to work around that. We played with some heart tonight and played hard. We had our chances against a good team.

"Tonight I was so impressed with how our fans came out and supported the team. It really made a difference to our team," Lucci continued.

The first game see-sawed until Buffalo took a three-point lead, 20-17. The Purple Eagles then committed four attack errors and UB collected a kill, an ace and a block to take a 27-17 lead. The Bulls outscored Niagara 10-5 to close the match.

Game two mirrored the first as both teams were tied at 21 and again at 25. UB had a kill then capitalized on a pair of Niagara errors to take a three-point lead, 28-25, but Niagara got a point on a Bulls’ service error and another on freshman Lindsay Kriger’s ace to pull within two. Graham added another ace to make it 29-28, but UB finished with a kill.

Niagara trailed early in the game, 12-7, but Niagara battle back with a 7-5 run to pull within in three, 17-14. Buffalo ran the score to 26-19 before the Purple Eagles strung together a 5-2 run to make it 27-24. The Bulls finished the match with a kill and two Niagara errors.