Senior Jennifer Hansford

NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. – The Niagara University volleyball team returns to the friendly confines of the Taps Gallagher Center this weekend when it puts its school record seven-match winning streak on the line against a pair of Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference foes. The Purple Eagles host defending league champion Iona College Saturday at 1 p.m. and Fairfield University Sunday at noon.

Niagara will be battling for first place in the conference this weekend as it is tied with both Iona and Fairfield with 2-0 league records. The Purple Eagles beat Saint Peter’s (3-0) and Manhattan (3-2) last weekend while Iona beat Marist (3-0) and Siena (3-1), and Fairfield beat the Red Foxes (3-1) and the Saints (3-0).

The Purple Eagles have three players hitting .200-or-better and three averaging 3.0-or-more digs per game. They are hitting .176 as a team and digging 18.58 attacks an outing. Niagara ranks first in the MAAC in opponent hitting percentage (.143), blocks (2.37) and digs (18.58). It is also second in kills (931) and assists (863). Nationally, the Purple Eagles are ranked 12th in the country in digs.

Senior Michelle LeSouder (Stratford, Ont.), who is the MAAC Co-Offensive Player of the Week, tops the squad in hitting percentage (.268) and is second in kills per game (3.26) and blocks (59). Classmate Karen Simpson (Rochester, N.Y.) is hitting .237 and ranks first in the MAAC and on the team in blocks (80). Rookie Nicole Piette (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport) is hitting .200 and is third on the squad in blocks (42).

Senior libero Micole Daluisio (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster) averages a team-leading 5.35 digs per game and ranks second in the MAAC and 21st in the NCAA. Senior setter Jennifer Hansford (Stratford, Ont.) tops the squad with 6.44 assists per game and needs four assists to become the program’s leader in assists.

Iona is 7-15 overall and has won three of its last five matches, but had a three-match winning streak snapped with a 3-0 loss to Seton Hall on Wednesday. The Gaels are hitting .169 and averaging 13.86 kills per game, good for third in the MAAC.

Senior middle blocker and the 2004 MAAC Player of the Year, Miki Hogg, leads the Iona attack. She is has a team-best 302 kills, 3.97 kill per game, .319 hitting percentage and 75 blocks. Sophomore Kristin Allain is averaging 3.26 kills per game, and senior libero Chelsea White is digging 6.07 attacks per outing.

Fairfield will face Canisius before making the trip to Monteagle Ridge. The Stags are 11-11 overall and enter the weekend on a two-match winning streak and as a winner in two of their last five matches.

2004 MAAC Rookie of the Year Lindsay Lee leads the team in kills per game (3.43) while four Stag regulars are hitting .200-or-better. Senior Lauren Laramore has a team-best 3.59 digs per game while junior middle hitter Natalie Barba has a team-leading 75 blocks.

Niagara leads in the Iona series, 9-8, but trails against Fairfield, 12-3. The Purple Eagles lost in four games to the Gaels and Stags last year on the road.