Senior Erin Graham |
NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. – Riding a five-match win streak, the Niagara University volleyball team continues its 12-match road swing with a meeting against Big Four rival Buffalo at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Alumni Arena.
On the line for the Purple Eagles is the five-match winning streak. The streak matches the five consecutive victories that the 1993 squad posted. Niagara will also be looking for it first win (0-27) over the Bulls in the 17-year history of the series.
This past week, Niagara extended its winning streak by winning the Trident Classic Tournament in Annapolis, Md. The Purple Eagles beat High Point in five games, Navy in five games and Delaware State in three games. With the victories, the Purple Eagles broke the school record for best start with a 5-1 record.
Instrumental in this past weekend’s wins were a pair of seniors. Outside hitter Erin Graham (Oakfield, N.Y.) and libero Micole Daluisio (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster) were both named to the Trident Classic All-Tournament Team. Graham registered a double-double against High Point and was in double-digits in kills in all three matches. With her five aces at the tournament, Graham moved into fifth on Niagara’s career service aces list with 93. Daluisio had match-high digs of 25 and 26 vs. High Point and Navy. She also registered a career-high three aces in the win over High Point.
In the records department, Graham is three kills shy of second place on Niagara’s career kills list. She enters Tuesday’s match with 1,126 kills. The outside hitter is also 62 digs short of 1,000 career digs. When she reaches the mark she will be the first Purple Eagle in school history to have 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs.
Daluisio is now two digs shy of 1,400 career digs and senior Michelle LeSouder (Stratford, Ont.) became the first Purple Eagle to register 1,400 career kills and is now 18 blocks away from entering the top five in career blocks.
Buffalo brings a 4-4 record, including a 3-0 mark in Alumni Arena, into Tuesday’s match. The Bulls also are looking to snap a three-match losing streak after dropping all three matches this past weekend in the Washington State Tournament in Pullman, Wash. Buffalo lost 3-0 to Idaho, 3-1 to No. 2 Washington State and 3-1 to Oral Roberts.
The Bulls are led by senior Katie Weekley and junior Nikki Morzenti. Weekley leads the team in hitting percentage (.324) and blocks (40), while Morzenti is one of two players averaging 3.0-or-more kills (3.14) and digs per game (3.03).
In its last meeting, Buffalo beat Niagara in three games, 30-22, 30-28, 30-25, on Sept. 15 in the Gallagher Center.
Graham had a match-high 15 kills and Daluisio added 13 digs. The Purple Eagles hit .145 and had nine service aces. UB was led by Morzenti with 13 kills and Weekley each added 10 kills. The Bulls hit .295 for the match, added 12 blocking assists.
