Junior Micole Daluisio |
NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. – The Niagara University volleyball (0-3) dropped its third and final match of the Western New York Invitational with a 26-30, 18-30, 20-30 loss to Texas Arlington (4-0) Saturday at the Gallagher Center on the Monteagle Ridge campus.
Junior Michelle LeSouder was the lone Purple Eagle in double digits in kills with 17. Classmates Micole Daluisio (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster) and Erin Graham had 17 and 11 digs, respectively.
Texas Arlington was led by Dani Johnson with 13 kills and Heather Dunn and Caley Smith each added 10.
"That was a tough team to play against," Niagara head coach Rocco Lucci said. "Our attitude was much better in this match than it was in the previous one and it showed as they pretty much followed the game plan and did a few other things well. This weekend gave us a lot to work on next week in practice."
Niagara fell behind 11-4 in game one, but battled back to within in two points, 25-23, with two kills from freshman Mallory Boron (Lockport, N.Y/Starpoint), a kill and service ace from junior Karen Simpson, a kill by Graham and a solo block from LeSouder. The Mavericks pulled ahead 28-25 with a kill and a Niagara ball-handling error and attacking error. Texas Arlington finished the game with a kill and an ace.
In game two, Niagara was as close as 19-13 in the middle of the game, but the Mavericks scored 11 of the next 18 points for the win. Johnson had eight kills on nine attacks during the game.
Niagara led 6-2 early in game three before Texas Arlington recovered with 10 kills to forge a 16-16 tie. The Mavericks then went on a 14-4 run to close the game and seal the win.
Freshman Raelean Rush (Amherst, N.Y./Sweet Home) was named to the WNY Invitational’s All-Tournament Team. Against Texas Arlington, Rush hit .357 (6-1-14) and added five digs.
The Purple Eagles return to action next weekend at the Youngstown State Tournament in Youngstown, Ohio.
2004 Western New York All-Tournament Team
Niagara: Raelean Rush
Texas Arlington: Ashley Van Antwep
Binghamton: Anne Crocus
University at Buffalo: Nikki Morzenti
Canisius: Lindsay Garbacz
Stony Brook: Julie Zub
