POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - In a rematch of last season's MAAC Championship Game, Niagara defeated the Marist Red Foxes, 3-1 (25-18, 20-25, 25-16, 25-22), in its MAAC opener on Saturday afternoon. The Purple Eagles have won four-straight matches against the Red Foxes.

"Today was a great win on the road, especially playing without Hannah (Hedrick)," head coach Susan Clements said. "The key to being successful in this conference is finding ways to win and we did that."

Niagara (6-7, 1-0 MAAC) had several players fill the void left by 2009 MAAC Defensive Player of the Year Hannah Hedrick. Junior Kathy Bibler tied a season-high with 13 kills to lead the match, and sophomores Amanda Wilken and Kari Honomichl had 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Freshman Ellen Senf had eight kills and senior Shannon Ryan added seven kills.

"Kathy (Bilber) and Amanda (Wilken) stepped up huge today offensively and defensively," Clements said. "Kari (Honomichl) and Sam (Morgan) were tough, too."

NU dug itself out of an early deficit to comfortably win the first set, 25-18. Marist (5-8, 0-1) claimed the second set, 25-20, for its only win in the match. The Purple Eagles used a 10-2 run en route to winning the third set, 25-16, and held off the Red Foxes to win the fourth set, 25-22.

Niagara had an attacking percentage advantage of .225 to .161, including a .346 attacking percentage in the first set. NU also had seven blocks in the match.

Junior Michelle James had 41 assists and was one dig away from a double-double. Junior Sam Morgan had 14 digs to extend her double-digit digs streak to 75 matches.  Honomichl added 11 digs with her 10 kills for her second double-double of the season.

"Tomorrow will be another tough match and we hope we can go 2-0 on the road," Clements said.

The Purple Eagles will play the Siena Saints on Sunday at 2 p.m. in their next match.