BUFFALO, N.Y. –  The Niagara volleyball team was defeated by rival Canisius, 27-25, 25-22, 25-17, in the first Battle of the Bridge contest of the season on Wednesday.

"This was a tough loss for us because with just a couple of different bounces, or plays by us, the result could have been completely different," said head coach Vilis Ozols.  "I was really proud of the girls to go into an opponent's gym and battle as well as they did tonight."

Scoring droughts in each sets succumbed Niagara (1-15, 0-5 MAAC) to its first defeat to its rival since 2008; snapping a nine-match win streak.

Niagara nearly rallied to take the opening set while erasing a 10-point deficit. Canisius (5-11, 3-2 MAAC) went on a 12-2 run to take a 17-7 lead. However, the Purple Eagles would score 17 of the next 24 points to tie the score at 24-24. The score would be tied again, 25-25, before the Golden Griffins ended the set by scoring consecutive points.

The Purple Eagles battled to another close finish in the second set. Canisius built a 15-10 lead, but NU didn't go away. Niagara cut the lead to 21-19 after a ball handling error, but it would be the closet Niagara would get. The Golden Griffins opened the third set on a 10-3 run and eventually led 20-11 en route to winning the match.

Melissa McGwin had her third doule-digit kills match of the season with a team-high 11 kills. Logan Rae and Amanda Sedore each had career-highs in digs with 18 and 16, respectively.

Niagara is back home this weekend with matches against Manhattan and Iona at 1 p.m.