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The Niagara volleyball team continues its season-opening road trip at the Patriot Invitational hosted by George Mason in Fairfax, Va. this weekend. Niagara will play Navy and George Mason on Saturday and South Carolina on Sunday.

The Purple Eagles (1-2) opened their 2012 campaign at the La Salle Invitational last weekend where they dropped two close matches against La Salle and Loyola (Il.) before sweeping Bucknell on Sunday.

A pair of Purple Eagles was honored for their performance in senior Kari Honomichl and sophomore Allison Reis. Honomichl, the reigning MAAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player, was in midseason form during Niagara’s three matches. Honomichl led the Purple Eagles in kills in every match while recording two double-doubles. Honomichl led the match in kills against La Salle with 18 and with 15 in the win versus Bucknell. Honomichl averaged 4.27 kills per set, 3.09 digs per set and was named to the all-tournament team.

Reis earned the first-ever MAAC Libero of the Week award announced on Monday. Reis made a strong debut at libero last weekend in the season-opening La Salle Invitational. In her first career start at libero, Reis recorded a career-best 33 digs in the season opener. She followed with 19 digs in the next two matches. On the weekend, she averaged 6.45 digs per set.

Niagara’s first match in the tournament is against Navy on Saturday at 11 a.m. The Mids went 1-2 in their season-opening invitational with the lone win coming in five sets against Hartford and the two setbacks against Norfolk State and Nebraska-Omaha. This will be the first meeting between the programs since a Niagara 3-2 win on Sept. 9, 2005; NU trails the all-time series, 6-2.

Niagara will lock horns with the host, George Mason (1-2), at 3 p.m. on Saturday. The Patriots began the season at the DC Volleyball Challenge where they lost their first two matches (Georgetown, American) before topping UMBC on Tuesday at home.

NU’s final match of the weekend is against SEC powerhouse South Carolina (4-0). The Gamecocks have won three of their four matches in sweeps to start the season.