BUFFALO, N.Y. - Exactly 12 months after struggling through a season where it was known as the youngest team in the nation, the Niagara volleyball team is now known as the 2009 MAAC Champions.

The No. 2 Purple Eagles earned the program's first MAAC Championship on Monday, sweeping No. 4 Marist, 25-20, 27-25, 27-25 at the Koessler Athletic Center on ESPNU. 2009 MAAC Coach of the Year Susan Clements and her Purple Eagle squad completed the best turnaround in the nation and finished with the conference crown and a trip to the NCAA Tournament.

"It's an unbelievable feeling," Clements explained. "I am just so proud of our team. All season long we just tried to get better and I kept preaching to the team that if we keep doing what we are doing, then the wins would come."

The 2008 team suffered through a 6-24 record, and a 4-14 conference mark with a group of sophomores and freshmen. The 2009 version of Purple Eagle volleyball flipped its conference record around (14-4), set numerous records, and capped it off with the programs first MAAC Championship.

Sophomore Hannah Hedrick (Cincinnati, Ohio) headlined the All-Tournament Team as the Most Outstanding Player. She recorded 10 kills and six digs after totaling 21 kills and 20 digs in the MAAC Semifinal win over four-time MAAC Champion Siena.

Sophomore Michelle James (Cincinnati, Ohio) and freshman Amanda Wilken (Cincinnati, Ohio) joined Hedrick on the All-Tournament Team. James assisted on 34 of the team's 46 kills while adding five winners of her own. She also scored three service aces in the second set of the championship match. Wilken tallied 10 kills and a pair of blocks in the final.

The Purple Eagles jumped ahead early and controled the first set with an all-around offensive effort. Six players recorded kills, and five of them totaled multiple winners in the 25-20 win. Marist came out and dominated the opening moments of the second set, but the Purple Eagles rallied to take the lead 13-12 on back-to-back service aces by James. After a back-and-forth affair, NU came out on top 27-25 on a kill by Kathy Bibler (Bowling Green, Ohio).

After the intermission, the Purple Eagles and Red Foxes returned for a thrilling third set. The final set saw 12 ties and nine lead changes, and it was the Purple Eagles who came out on top. Hedrick and Shannon Ryan (Fairport, N.Y.) collected monster kills down the stretch, and after fighting off one Marist set point, Bibler put down the final ball to clinch the conference crown and send Niagara into the NCAA Tournament for the first time.

Bibler and Ryan both finished with six kills and three blocks, while freshman Kari Honomichl (Petersburg, Mich.) added eight winners. Sophomore Sam Morgan (Cincinnati, Ohio) was again strong in the back row, picking up a game-high 13 digs, extending her personal streak to 61 matches, while junior Rebecca Suchy (Lancaster, N.Y.) collected 10 digs and a service ace in the win.

Niagara will find out where it will travel and who it will face in the 2009 NCAA Tournament on Sunday, Nov. 29 at 3 p.m. on ESPNews.