NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The Niagara volleyball team swept its fifth straight opponent with a 25-22, 25-22, 25-21 victory over co-first place the Iona Gaels on Saturday afternoon.

An all-around team effort led to Niagara’s (11-8, 6-1 MAAC) victory which keeps them in a tie for first place in the MAAC. The Purple Eagles defense held Iona (11-6, 5-2 MAAC), one of the best offensive teams in the conference, under control on the day.

Niagara registered a season-high of 11 blocks, forced 20 Gaels errors, and held Iona to 10.3 kills per set, 8.6 assists per set and a .096 hitting percentage, all which were well below  its season average.

Niagara took the first two sets with the identical score of 25-22 with little trouble, but had to dig itself out of an early hole in the third set. Trailing 15-10, the Purple Eagles used an 8-2 run to take the lead for good en route to winning the third set 25-21 to clinch the match.

Junior Hannah Hedrick and sophomore Kari Honomichl each had 11 kills to lead the match; Hedrick added 13 digs for her seventh double-double of the season. Freshman Ellen Senf also contributed to the attack with nine kills. Junior Michelle James had her fifth double-double of the season with a game-high 33 assists and had 10 digs. Junior Sam Morgan had 12 digs to lead the team and extending her double-digit digs streak to 81 matches.

Niagara will host the Fairfield Stags on Sunday at 2 p.m.