Box Score

BUFFALO, N.Y. – In the second Battle of the Bridge match of the season, Niagara cruised to a sweep of archrival Canisius, 25-17, 25-21, 25-20, on Wednesday in the annual Dig Pink match at the Koessler Center.

Niagara (16-7, 10-0 MAAC) sweeps the season series from its crosstown neighbor for the third consecutive year while collecting its first road sweep of Canisius (9-12, 4-6 MAAC) since Oct. 19, 1993. NU now holds a 4-0 advantage in the race for the 2011-12 Canal Cup which is handed to the winner of the Battle of the Bridge series between the two rivals.

“Anytime you can get a win on the road at Canisius you have accomplished something,” head coach Susan Clements said. “They are a complete team that is very dangerous.”

The Purple Eagles continue their dominance of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in recent seasons with their 29th straight conference win dating back to Sept. 2010. NU used pivotal runs throughout the match en route to its 11th consecutive overall win and sixth straight against Canisius.

The Purple Eagles pulled away in the opening set with a pair of runs. NU had runs of 5-1 and 6-1, which both forced Canisius timeouts, as Niagara ran away with a 25-17 first set win. Consecutive kills by Canisius in the second set tied the match at 14-14. Niagara responded with a 9-3 spurt, but the Golden Griffins came within two points at 23-21. Serving for the set, NU closed the set with a blocks by Ellen Senf and Kathy Bibler, 25-21.

In the third set, Niagara seamlessly pulled away from a close set with a .562 hitting percentage (18 kills, zero errors). Up 15-14, a kill by Hannah Hedrick sparked the Purple Eagles’ run en route to finishing the set, 25-20.

Niagara had three players in double-digit kills and double-digit digs. Kari Honomichl continued her strong play against Canisius with a match-high 15 kills and had 10 digs for her eighth double-double of the season. Hedrick had 10 kills and 10 digs for her team-leading 11th double-double and Amanda Wilken added 10 digs. Sam Morgan had a match-high 27 digs and Nicole Bayer led the match with 48 assists.

“It was a total team effort,” Clements said. “We had so many people step up throughout that match. A big moment I felt was near the end of the second set when Lisa (Bilich) came up with two huge digs when our blocks were confused; she kept us in the lead to close out that set.”

Niagara is home this weekend for key conference matches against Fairfield (12-8, 9-1 MAAC) on Saturday and Iona (9-8, 6-3 MAAC) on Sunday with both matches starting at 2 p.m.