Box Score

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – The Niagara volleyball team survived a scare from the Marist Red Foxes on Saturday to pull out a 3-2 (25-17,19-25,25-21,25-27,15-10) victory to extend its MAAC win streak to 25 matches.

“It was a big road win today and Marist really is a solid team," head coach Susan Clements said. "Our serving picked up for us and we had some real hustle plays that came out in our favor. Our hitters stepped up big and made some big plays when it mattered.”

Four Purple Eagles notched double-digit kills, led by senior middle blocker Kathy Bibler who had a season-high and match-high 18 kills. Bibler had plenty of company on the attack. Hannah Hedrick (17 kills, 10 digs) and Kari Honomichl(17 kills, 11 digs) each had double-doubles, Amanda Wilken contributed with 12 kills and Ellen Senf had nine kills in the match. Nicole Bayer's 64 assists tied a program-best for most assists in a five-set match, which was set by teammate Michelle Jamesagainst Oakland this season. The Purple Eagles’ .383 hitting percentage was their second highest of the season.

Niagara (12-7, 6-0 MAAC) and Marist (6-10, 3-3 MAAC) alternated set wins until the Purple Eagles prevailed in the fifth set for the seventh straight win of the season. Niagara had a season set-high .536 hitting percentage (18 kills, 3 errors) to take the opening set, 25-17. After dropping the second set, 25-19, the Purple Eagles ended the third set on a 7-1 run en route to winning, 25-21. In the fourth set, NU was serving for the match at 24-23 but was forced to a 25-25 score before eventually falling, 27-25. A kill by Bibler in the fifth and deciding set sparked a 5-2 run as Niagara closed out the match with a 15-10 win.

Niagara will face Siena, the last MAAC team to defeat the Purple Eagles, on Sunday at 2 p.m.