ATHENS, OHIO – The Niagara Purple Eagles dropped matches against Ohio and Montana State on the first day at the Bobcat Invitational on Friday.

Niagara 0, Ohio 3
Niagara wasn’t able to dig itself out of slow start in its opening game at the Bobcat Invitational.The Purple Eagles (3-5) dropped the first set, but battled the Bobcats (2-3) in the second and third sets.

“We started slow in the first set and battled in the second and third,” head coach Dottie Porch said. “We had opportunities to win, but late mistakes cost us.”

Junior Ellen Senf carried Niagara offensively, who had a .478 hitting percentage while committing zero errors. One of her team-high 11 kills tied the second set at 20-20; however Ohio scored five straight points to take the set.

The third set was a see-saw, featuring eight ties and 9 lead changes, as NU attempted to keep the match alive.  Senior Amanda Wilken tied the match with a kill at 23-23, but the host prevailed by scoring the next two points to win the match.

Montana State 3, Niagara 2
The Purple Eagles benefited from two quick starts en route to claiming the first two sets by identical scores of 25-19. Kari Honomichl had seven kills and nine digs in the first set and had a total of 10 kills and 13 digs through the first two sets. NU had hitting percentages of .310 and .250 in the first two sets which helped build comfortable leads .

In the third set, Montana State (6-1) broke the 18-18 tie with a 7-4 run the win set. The Bobcats sprinted to a 20-9 lead in the fourth set to force the deciding fifth set.  A kill by Honomichl brought NU to 7-6, but the Bobcats closed the match on an 8-2 run.

Honomichl led the Purple Eagles in kills with 17 and digs with 15 for her third double-double of the season. Senf finished with eight digs and Wilken had seven kills and three blocks. Michelle James had 35 assists and nine digs.

“We didn’t take our opportunity to finish the match and Montana State took advantage of their opportunity to win,” Porch said.

Niagara wraps up play at the Bobcat Invitational against Belmont on Saturday at 1 p.m.