Senior Jennifer Hansford |
NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. – Six seniors will be playing their final regular-season matches of their careers this weekend when the Niagara University volleyball team (14-9, 4-3) hosts Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference foes Rider University (9-18, 1-6) and Loyola College (7-22, 1-6) in the legendary Taps Gallagher Center. The Purple Eagles host the Broncs at 3 p.m. Saturday and the Greyhounds at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Playing their final regular-season matches will be Michelle LeSouder (Stratford, Ont.), Karen Simpson (Rochester, N.Y.), Stephanie Hopkins (Tonawanda, N.Y./Sweet Home), Erin Graham (Oakfield, N.Y.), Jennifer Hansford (Stratford, Ont.) and Micole Daluisio (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster).
In the race for a postseason bid, Niagara is currently in a tie with Saint Peter’s College for fourth place in the MAAC. Should the Purple Eagles win its final two matches this weekend, they will receive at least the No. 4 seed in the MAAC Tournament being hosted Nov. 19-20 on Monteagle Ridge. Niagara would receive the bid over Saint Peter’s and Manhattan College due to its victories in the middle of October over both teams.
Niagara has won two of its last three matches, including a 30-25, 27-30, 30-21, 30-22 victory over Little Three rival Canisius on Nov. 5. The win put the Purple Eagles in playoff contention and snapped a three-match losing streak to the Golden Griffins.
In MAAC-only matches, LeSouder is leading the team in hitting (.359) and is second in kills per game (4.52) blocks per game (1.08). Freshman Nicole Piette (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport) is second in hitting (.320) and is one of four players averaging over 1.00-blocks per game (1.00).
Hopkins and Graham continue to be both offensive and defensive threats for the Purple Eagles. Hopkins has a squad-best 4.88 kills per game and is second in digs per game (4.32). Graham is averaging 2.96 kills and 3.60 digs per game.
Simpson leads the MAAC and the team in blocks (1.28) and is one of seven players hitting .200-or-better (.223).
Daluisio, who is ranked 29th in the country in digs per game (5.19), is digging 4.80 attacks per game in league matches. She is also 50 digs short first on the Niagara single-season list (446).
Rider sits in last place in the MAAC standings and has lost five of its last six matches. The Broncs won their first league match of the season last weekend when they beat Marist in four games.
Junior middle hitter Megan Smith leads the team offensively with .224 hitting percentage and a team-best 52 blocks. Senior outside hitter Stefanie Lombardo has a squad-leading 3.21 kills per game while sophomore libero Nastasja Avramovic is digging a team-leading 4.51 attacks.
Loyola is also in last place in the league and enters the weekend on a five-match losing streak.
Sophomore outside hitter Becky Corb leads the team in kills per game (3.92) and aces (39). Freshman middle blocker Rachel Schillinger tops the squad in hitting (.261) and blocks (59), while senior libero Jamie Arndt has a squad-best 4.72 digs per game.
Niagara leads the all-time series with Rider (7-2), but still trails Loyola (9-8).
