LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – The Niagara volleyball team fought off early jitters to defeat the No. 8 seed Siena Saints, 3-1 (17-25,25-23,25-19,25-10) in the 2010 MAAC Tournament Quarterfinals on Thursday at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. Niagara will face No. 5 seed Fairfield in the semifinals on Friday at 5 p.m. which will be aired on ESPN3.

Top-seeded Niagara (23-8) tied a school record with 23 wins and extended its program-best winning streak to 17 matches, which is the seventh longest current streak in the nation. The Purple Eagles had to come from behind to defeat Siena (10-20) in a rematch of last season’s semifinal encounter. Niagara stumbled out of the gates, but improved immensely in each set afterwards. 

“We started off shaky, but after we settled in we were able to dictate play and take away the win,” head coach Susan Clements said.

NU lost the first set 25-17, mostly due to a .050 hitting percentage in the first set. Niagara rode the backs of outside hitter Hannah Hedrick and middle blocker Amanda Wilken for the rest of the match. They were pivotal in helping Niagara capture the second set as they combined for three points with the scored tied at 21-21; a kill by Wilken won the set, 25-23.

The turning point of the match occurred in the third set. Three consecutive kills by Hedrick gave the Purple Eagles a 17-14 lead and NU would close the set on a 10-5 run. The hot streak spilled over into the fourth set where NU jumped to a 12-2 lead and never looked back. The Purple Eagles finished the set a match-best .414 hitting percentage.

Hedrick finished with 17 kills for her second most tally of the season and 17 digs for her team leading 11th double-double. Wilken had 11 kills for a .323 hitting percentage (11 kills, one error) and four block solos and four block assists. Kari Honomichl and Ellen Senf each had nine kills. Michelle James had a match-high 47 assists and Sam Morgan had a match-high 29 digs to extend her double-digits digs streak to 93 matches. 

Niagara advances to the MAAC Semifinals where they will face the Fairfield Stags. The Purple Eagles swept the regular season series with the Stags for the first time in program history.