Senior Michelle LeSouder had a team-high 21 kills Sunday at Manhattan. |
RIVERDALE, N.Y. – The Niagara University volleyball team (12-5, 2-0) won its second consecutive Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference match of the weekend and seventh-straight this season with a five-game (27-30, 30-22, 26-30, 30-27, 15-8) victory over Manhattan College (11-13, 1-1) Sunday at Draddy Gym.
The win gives the Purple Eagles the longest winning streak in program history and puts them atop the MAAC standings.
Senior Michelle LeSouder (Stratford, Ont.) had a team-high 21 kills, a match-best .452 hitting percentage, two block solos and five assisted blocks. Classmates Stephanie Hopkins (Tonawanda, N.Y./Sweet Home) and Erin Graham (Oakfield, N.Y.) each posted double-doubles. Hopkins had 19 kills and a match-high 29 digs, while Graham added 13 kills and 21 digs. Sophomore Ralean Rush (Amherst, N.Y./Sweet Home) had 10 kills, senior Micole Daluisio (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster) 24 digs and senior Jennifer Hansford (Stratford, Ont.) 37 assists and 11 digs.
In game one, Niagara trailed 12-7, but then put together a 10-3 run, capitalizing on six Manhattan errors and four Purple Eagle kills to tie the game at 21. The game was tied twice more but at 26 all, the Lady Jaspers got four kills, including three from Megan O’Dorisio, for the win.
LeSouder had three kills to help Niagara to an 11-7 lead in game two. Manhattan tied it at 11, but the Purple Eagles took advantage of two Lady Jasper errors and a Hopkins’ kill to take a 14-11 lead. Niagara held onto at least a two-point lead until it took a 24-18 lead on two kills from Hopkins, one from LeSouder and a Manhattan error. The Purple Eagles went on a 6-4 run to win the game.
Game three had 12 ties until the last at 21. Manhattan used a 9-5 run fueled by eight kills to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Niagara led early in game four, 14-9, but the teams were tied at 19 when Manhattan made a 10-5 run. The Purple Eagles’ outside hitters then went to work as LeSouder had three kills, Hopkins two and Graham and Rush with a kill apiece to close the game.
In Niagara’s sixth fifth game of the season, it took an early 8-4 lead before going to the quartet of Hopkins, LeSouder, Graham and Rush. The Purple Eagles got 12 kills from the group during the final game for the win.
The Purple Eagles return to the friendly confines of the legendary Taps Gallagher Center and put their seven-match winning streak on the line when they host Iona College Oct. 22 at 1 p.m.
