LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – The No. 1 seed Niagara Purple Eagles defeated the fifth-seeded Fairfield Stags 3-1 (25-19,20-25,25-20,25-15) in the 2010 MAAC Championship Semifinals to reach the final for the second-straight season.

A dominant fourth set propelled Niagara (24-8) to its 18-straight win and to its third MAAC Final in program history. The defending champion will play for the 2010 crown on Saturday at 2 p.m. broadcast on ESPN3 versus the winner between No. 2 Iona and No. 3 Canisius.

The Purple Eagles started the fourth set with a 5-2 run and coasted their way for a 25-15 set win. Niagara had a match-high .394 hitting percentage and held Fairfield (12-20) to a .133 hitting percentage.

“Our passing picked up and we were making smart shots,” head coach Susan Clements said. “Kathy (Bibler) really stepped up in the match to take the pressure off our outsides (hitters). We are really excited to have an opportunity to defend our title tomorrow.”

Niagara’s fourth set spurt broke open a tight contest with Fairfield. The match was tied at 1-1 after the first two sets. In the first set, Niagara used an 8-3 run with the score tied at 10-10 to steal momentum en route to winning with a score of 25-18. However, the Purple Eagles went through a rough passing stretch midway through the second set, which allowed Fairfield to seize control of the set and to even the match at 1-1.

The pivotal third set was tight throughout with both teams combining for 17 errors. After both teams went point-for-point, the Purple Eagles benefited from consecutive attacking errors by the Stags and got a kill from Hannah Hedrick to give them a 21-18 lead. Fairfield’s 10th error of the set handed NU a 25-20 third set win.

Four Purple Eagles had double-digits kills and double-digit digs in the match. Kari Honomichl, who was named Pepsi Max Player of the Game, led Niagara with 12 kills and had 6 digs. Hedrick had her team-leading 12th double-double with 11 kills and a team-high 21 digs. Kathy Bibler and Ellen Senf each had 10 kills. Michelle James had a match-high 42 assists and brought down 12 digs for her 11th double-double of the season. Rebecca Suchy had 10 digs and Sam Morgan had 19 digs to extend her double-digits digs streak to 94 matches. 

Niagara set another school record with its 24th win tonight.