NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. - The Niagara volleyball squad (5-15, 3-7 MAAC) just missed a chance at an upset on its home floor on Saturday against Fairfield (14-10, 11-1 MAAC), falling in four sets. The Purple Eagles had three different chances to send the match to a decisive fifth set, but came up just short.

"When you play a team as good as Fairfield, you can't make mistakes," Niagara head coach Susan Clements. "Our passing in the first set was very poor, and it cost us today."

Clements inserted senior Lindsay Kriger (Yorkton, Sask.) into the rotation due to an injury to the Purple Eagles middle hitting ranks. The co-captain responded with 14 kills and a .286 hitting percentage, helping in the Niagara upset effort.

"Lindsay answered the call today," Clements said. "She gave us another option on the outside and she responded and played extremely well today."

After dropping the first set 30-17, Niagara responded with its best set of the day, winning 30-25. The Purple Eagles hit just .051 in the opening frame, but rebounded by attacking at .214 in the second set.

The fourth set was a back-and-forth affair. The Stags jumped out to an early advantage, but the Purple Eagles fought back to knot the score at 11-11. Fairfield again jumped ahead, but Niagara came clawing back to tie the score at 18-18. Seven ties later, the Purple Eagles took the lead on a kill by senior Raelean Rush (Amherst, N.Y.), making the score 27-26.

A pair of Kriger kills put the Purple Eagles on the verge of forcing the fifth set, but the Stags wouldn't allow it. Karlie Urbaniak recorded a kill to put the Stags up 32-31, and a Niagara error gave Fairfield the win.

Rush finished the contest with a game-high 19 kills, and junior Nicole Piette (Lockport, N.Y.) added 10 kills in the loss.

The Purple Eagles are home on Sunday with a MAAC contest with Iona that is slated for a 2 p.m. start.