Senior Michelle LeSouder had a match-high 20 kills Saturday vs. Canisius. |
NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. – Senior Michelle LeSouder (Stratford, Ont.) led the Niagara University volleyball team (14-8, 4-3) with a match-best 20 kills and a .425 hitting percentage to power the Purple Eagles past Canisius College (8-16, 2-5), 30-25, 27-30, 30-21, 30-22 Saturday night in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference match. Niagara had a season-best 348 fans in attendance for the MAAC action at the Gallagher Center.
LeSouder was not the lone Purple Eagle to put on an offensive show. Senior Stephanie Hopkins (Tonawanda/Sweet Home H.S.) had 18 kills and 14 digs. Senior Erin Graham (Oakfield, N.Y.) and sophomore Raelaen Rush (Amherst/Sweet Home H.S.) each added 10 kills. Graham also picked up 10 digs. Senior Micole Daluisio (Lancaster/Lancaster H.S.) led Niagara with 19 digs.
"We worked on the Canisius defense and hitting to open spots," Niagara head coach Rocco Lucci said. "We worked hard in practice to play for this match. This match had a lot of hype and emotion and regardless of who won or lost, it was a great match to watch. The six seniors on our team deserved this win. They’ve worked hard to get it.
"We had a disciplined block tonight," said Lucci, noting Niagara had 16 team blocks (3 solo/26 assists). "We knew who was getting set and that their middle hitters were their bread-and-butter. We needed our wing blockers to help out and they did. Overall, we did very well blocking. Another key was our patience on offense as we used a number of different ways to attack them. We tried to create some holes in their defense and we hit those seams as you can see by our stats."
The Purple Eagles rallied from a 16-12 deficit to take an eventual 28-24 lead in the first game. After a Canisius point, Hopkins recorded a kill before LeSouder and senior Karen Simpson (Rochester/Gates-Chili) teamed on a block for the 30-25 lead. Simpson had eight block assists in the game.
Niagara opened leads of 13-6 and 17-10 in game two but Canisius rallied, eventually taking a 29-26 lead. The Golden Griffins scored eight of the game’s final nine points to pick up the win.
"I think going into game three, after the 10-minute intermission, which can kill you or really hurt you, really helped us," Lucci said. "It gave our hitters a chance to step back and look at the game plan. Canisius did a good job countering us and we bounced back really well. I think the team was more confident going into this match because they felt like they were really prepared."
After both teams battled to open game three, Niagara rallied to take a 17-10 lead. Kills by Graham pushed the Purple Eagles’ advantage to 27-14. Hopkins and LeSouder each had a kill to end the game.
The teams traded points in the fourth game before Niagara took advantage of three Canisius hitting errors to take a 21-15 lead. Simpson and Hopkins each had two kills to give Niagara a 27-17 lead before freshman Nicole Piette (Lockport/Lockport H.S.) recorded a solo block and a kill for the win. Piette had five kills, two solo blocks and five block assists.
Niagara plays Akron in non-conference action Sunday at 2 p.m.
