ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The Niagara volleyball team’s historic season came to an end in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Niagara fell to the No. 13 seed Michigan Wolverines, 25-4, 25-12, 25-15, on Friday night at the Keen Arena on the campus of the University of Michigan.

“We were just excited to be a part of the NCAA Tournament," Niagara head coach Susan Clements. "Hats off to Michigan, they are an exceptional team. We hope to learn from this and be back next year."

The Purple Eagles scored the first point of the match with a kill from freshman middle Amanda Wilken (Cincinnati, Ohio). The Wolverines then dominated the rest of the opening set, adding 15 kills without a hitting error.

Niagara rebounded in the next two sets, playing more of its game. The Purple Eagles were led by sophomore Hannah Hedrick (Cincinnati, Ohio), who contributed seven kills. Hedrick finished the year with 472 kills, the second-best single-season total in school history.

“We are definitely going to take the experience of this tournament with us," Hedrick explained. "We were probably nervous at first. This is what we worked for all season and to be able to compete with one of the best teams in the nation is an awesome experience.”

Sophomore Sam Morgan (Cincinnati, Ohio) extended her NCAA-best double-digit dig streak with 17. The libero's current streak of 62 matches, which is every match that she has played in, leads the nation. She finished the season with a school record 613 digs, 109 more than the previous single-season record held by Micole Daluisio ('05).

Sophomore Michelle James (Cincinnati, Ohio) added nine assists to bring her single-season record total to 1,199. She has amassed 2,348 assists in her first two seasons on Monteagle Ridge, good enough for fourth place all-time.

The Purple Eagles' 23 wins set the school record en route to the program's first ever MAAC Championship. 2009 MAAC Coach of the year Clements returns all 10 players from the roster in a quest for another MAAC Championship.