Sophomore Maurin Lawrence hit .800 with four kills Saturday vs. UMES.

NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. – Three Purple Eagles were in double figures in kills as the Niagara University volleyball team improved to 2-1 on the season with three-game sweep (30-18, 30-14, 30-25) of Maryland Eastern Shore (0-3) Saturday evening in the Gallagher Center. Niagara’s start is the best since opening the 1995 season 3-1.

Senior Stephanie Hopkins (Tonawanda, N.Y./Sweet Home) had a match-high 13 kills, 10 digs and three aces. Classmates Erin Graham (Oakville, N.Y.) and Michelle LeSouder (Stratford, Ont.) each had 11 kills and Graham added a match-high 13 digs. Niagara hit .320 as a team and limited UMES to -.019.

The Hawks were led by Holiday Eller with five kills. Likica Grceva had a team-high seven digs.

"We learned and did so much this weekend," Niagara head coach Rocco Lucci said. "We also got a number of people in the matches. Maurin Lawrence (Corfu, N.Y.) came in and she hit .800. She’s so excited about that performance. She’ll carry that over into our practices and hopefully into next weekend’s tournament, a tough one at Navy.

"This match was another example of our depth and what we can do. We were able to take control of the match when we needed to. We lost a few points at the start of one of the games but we were able to brush that aside and score the points we needed to take control."

Hopkins registered seven of her 13 kills in game one. The outside hitter scored five points on five kills and two aces during an 11-5 run to close the game.

The Purple Eagles were again hot offensively, hitting .323 in game two. Raelean Rush (Amherst/Sweet Home), LeSouder and Lawrence each had three kills while Hopkins and Graham each added two. UMES committed 28 total errors in the game.

With subbing in game three, Niagara found itself in a tighter game. Neither team was ahead by more than four points, but the Purple Eagles held on for a slim 21-17 lead after five consecutive kills. UMES got three kills from Eller and Niagara committed three errors to pull to a 25-25 tie. The Purple Eagles responded with two kills from Graham and LeSouder and an ace from Hopkins to finish the game and match.

The Purple Eagles return to action Sept. 9 when they travel to Annapolis, Md., for the Navy Tournament.