Box Score

LOUNDONVILLE, N.Y. – The Niagara volleyball team rallied from a set down to defeat the Siena Saints, 3-1 (23-25, 25-22, 25-16, 25-18), on Sunday for its first win at Siena since Nov. 2003.

Niagara (13-7, 7-0 MAAC), which has lost its last six meetings at Siena (4-12, 2-6 MAAC), rallied after dropping the first set for its 26th straight victory against a conference opponent. The Purple Eagles began its current streak last season after losing at Siena in their second conference match of the season.

“Winning at Siena was a goal for us this season, since we have yet to do that,” head coach Susan Clements said. “Siena is rich in tradition and winning there has giving us confidence to continue and build a tradition at Niagara.”

Niagara lost the first set, 25-23, despite having a 21-16 lead; the Saints ended the set scoring nine of the last 11 points. The Purple Eagles held off the Saints in the second set, 25-22, to tie the match at 1-1.

With the match in the balance, the Purple Eagles seized control of the match early in the third set and never looked back. Niagara had hitting percentages of .302 and .323 in the third and fourth sets, respectively, while limiting the Saints to less than .188 hitting and 10 errors.

“We started off unaggressive and apprehensive with our serving and offense,” Clements said. “As the match went on we got stronger and found a way to win.”

Kari Honomichl’s 20 kills were a match and season-high for the junior from Petersburg, Mich. and were also the second most kills by a Purple Eagle this season. Homomichl also added 11 digs to record a double-double for the second consecutive match.

Hannah Hedrick also had a double-double for the second straight match with 12 kills and 15 digs for her team-leading ninth double-double. Sophomore Ellen Senf was the third Purple Eagle with double-digit kills with 11 and Kathy Bibler added nine kills in the win. Senior Sam Morgan had a match-high 29 digs to extend her NCAA-best double-digit digs streak to 116 matches.

Niagara is back home this weekend for two more conference matches, starting on Saturday at 2 p.m. against Loyola in the annual Dig Pink match.