FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Niagara volleyball team defeated the Fairfield Stags in straight sets by a score of 25-16, 25-18, 25-16, on Saturday for its first season sweep of the Stags in program history. The Purple Eagles extended their program-best win streak to 12 matches.

"We stuck to our game plan and our passing and defense was solid today," head coach Susan Clements said. "We had strong serving and a great offensive effort."

Niagara (18-8, 13-1 MAAC) continued its march to its first-ever MAAC regular season crown with a dominating performance against second place Fairfield (10-15, 9-4 MAAC).

Niagara benefited from timely hitting throughout the match, while the Stags had 27 errors and a .009 hitting percentage. The Purple Eagles jumped to a 9-3 lead in the first set, which forced the Stags to call a timeout. NU had a match-high .406 hitting percentage in the set and would go on to win the set, 25-16. In the second set Niagara was up 11-10, but used a 6-1 run to build separation en route to taking the set, 25-18. In the third set, had a 6-2 run late to pull away for a 25-16 win to seal the match.

Sophomore Amanda Wilken led the match with 11 kills and had zero errors for a .611 hitting percentage. Junior setter Michelle James led the Purple Eagles with 23 assists and also had seven kills for the second most on Niagara. Reigning MAAC Defensive Player of the Week, junior Hannah Hedrick, had six kills and six digs. Junior Sam Morgan extended her NCAA-best double-digit digs streak to 88 matches with a match-high 18 digs.

Niagara will travel to play the Iona Gaels (15-8, 9-4 MAAC) on Sunday at 2 p.m.