Box Score
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – The Niagara volleyball team won its 20th straight match against conference opposition with a straight-set victory over Iona (25-15, 25-16, 25-12) in its MAAC opener on Saturday.
Niagara (6-7, 1-0 MAAC) started conference play where it left off last season. The Purple Eagles stroll to a 3-0 win in the rematch of last season’s MAAC Championship match and extend its win streak in conference matches to 17 and 20 overall against conference foes. The Purple Eagles also stretched their win streak to seven matches against Iona (3-6, 0-1 MAAC).
“It was a good start to conference play,” head coach Susan Clements said. “We were able to capitalize on Iona’s mistakes.”
The Purple Eagles never trailed in the match and jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the first set and a 6-1 lead in the second and third sets. NU held the conference leader in aces to just one in the entire match, while the Gaels had a hitting percentage of .084 which includes hitting .000 in the third set. Niagara had a .459 hitting percentage in the third set and finished the match with a .348 percentage for its second highest clip of the season.
Hannah Hedrick and Kari Honomichl each had match-highs of 10 kills and Hedrick moved into a second place tie with Erin Graham (’10) in all-time kills. Amanda Wilken and Ellen Senf had nine and eight kills, respectively.
Niagara will challenge the Fairfield Stags on Sunday at 2 p.m.
