Senior Michelle LeSouder had a match-high 16 kills Friday night.

NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. – Seniors Michelle LeSouder (Stratford, Ont.) and Stephanie Hopkins (Amherst, N.Y./Sweet Home) each were in double figures in kills but it wasn’t enough as the Niagara University volleyball team lost to Army 33-31, 27-31, 13-30, 30-26, 15-8 in it season opener Friday night at the Gallagher Center.

LeSouder led the match with 16 kills and a .273 hitting percentage. Hopkins, in her first match for Niagara, added 14 kills and eight digs. Senior Micole Daluisio (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster) had a match-high 26 digs. Freshman Nicole Piette (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport) had a team-high four blocks and hit .417.

"Nicole played amazing for her first collegiate match," Niagara head coach Rocco Lucci said. "To hit .417 and get her hands on a number (4) of blocks like she did, that’s great. For the number of sets we gave her, she put balls away. We need to get away from being a set high to the outside team, but that’s been our strength, too. We need to work our middles, especially with the performances we got from Nicole and Karen (Simpson) tonight."

Army had four players in double-digits in kills. Briana Stremick had 15 kills, Elizabeth Lazzari 12 kills and 13 digs, Danielle Cooper 11 kills and Eileen Cassidy 10. Mandy Kimbrell had a team-high 20 digs.

Both teams battled in game one before the Black Knights took a 24-19 lead on an Ashley Dieter kill. Niagara took advantage of four kills and three Army errors to tie the game at 26. The score went back and forth with three ties, including at 31. Dieter made it 32-31 with a kill and then partnered with Lauren Teal with the game-winning block.

In game two Niagara sprinted out to a 13-9 lead and extended it to 20-16 after Army committed four errors on six consecutive plays. The Black Knights came within one point at 27-26 and 28-27, but kills from senior Erin Graham (Oakfield, N.Y.) and sophomore Raelean Rush (Amherst, N.Y./Sweet Home) and a block by Rush and Piette sealed the win.

Niagara took a two-game lead in the match after game three. The Purple Eagles raced out to a 12-5 lead capitalizing on multiple Army errors and three consecutive kills from Hopkins and Piette. The Black Knights never really got into the match committing 18 errors.

Army tied the match 2-2 in game four after it rallied from 20-16. Cooper had a kill and two block assists while Lazzari put down two kills to pull within 23-22. The Black Knights took the lead at 25-24 on a Dieter kill, a Niagara error and Cassidy kill. Stremick and Cooper got a block and then Stremick finished the game with a kill.

In game five, the Black Knights jumped out to a quick 11-4 lead, collecting eight kills and two aces. Niagara fought back to 14-8, but Dieter ended the match with a kill.

Niagara returns to action Saturday at 1 p.m. when it hosts Colgate and at 6 p.m. vs. Maryland Eastern Shore.