Michelle LeSouder |
NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. – The Niagara University volleyball team (1-1) registered its first victory of the season when it swept Colgate University (0-2) in three games, 30-21, 30-22, 30-20, Saturday afternoon in the legendary Gallagher Center.
Senior Michelle LeSouder (Stratford, Ont.) had a match-high 13 kills and only one error for a .632 hitting percentage. Classmate Stephanie Hopkins (Tonawanda, N.Y./Sweet Home) had a double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs. Senior Micole Daluisio (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster) had a match-high 14 digs.
Colgate was led by Katrina Zawojski with nine kills and seven digs. Jackie Adlam added a team-high 10 digs.
"Our seniors obviously stepped up. It was evident from the start as we took control of this match and didn’t let up," Niagara head coach Rocco Lucci said. "The reason we won is that we followed the game plan. We needed to get that first match out of our system and learn from it as it’s different making adjustments after a game than it is after a practice. We worked out the kinks from last night’s match, analyzed what we did wrong and made the corrections."
In game one, Niagara took a fast 13-9 lead after the Raiders committed 10 errors. They then worked the score back to 21-17 on a kill from Marybeth Maziarz. The Purple Eagles closed the game with two blocking plays that freshman Nicole Piette (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport) was in on.
Niagara came out swinging in game two, collecting eight kills and a block to push the score to 11-5. The Purple Eagles built a 20-9 lead after senior Erin Graham (Oakfield, N.Y.) and Piette had back-to-back kills. Colgate made a mini-run late in the game with a 5-1 run to make it 27-18, but it wasn’t enough for the overcome Niagara’s .324 hitting percentage.
The Purple Eagles rolled to a 6-0 lead in the game three behind two kills and a block assist from LeSouder. Hopkins had four of her kills in the third game while Graham recorded three of her six total kills in the final game.
Niagara returns to action Saturday at 5 p.m. vs. Maryland Eastern Shore.
