NORTH TONAWANDA, N.Y. – The Niagara Purple Eagles battled perennial power and conference-leading Marist to the final matches before falling, 4-3, on Saturday night.

“Going into the match we knew Marist would be a challenge,” head coach Anthony Nguyen said. “Although we didn’t win the match, I thought our guys really stepped up to the challenge and played with belief. We will work to prepare ourselves this week for the MAAC Tournament.”

After losing the doubles point, Niagara (13-9, 4-2 MAAC) rallied to tie the match at 2-2 by winning two of the first three singles matches. Michael Elortegui emphatically defeated Lorenzo Rossi in straight sets 6-4, 6-2 in No. 1 singles. Olivier Dufour-Coursol completed his undefeated MAAC season with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Will Reznek in three singles. With the win, Dufour-Coursol tied a program-best 22 wins set by Walter Garcia during the 2004-05 season.

Marist (15-3, 6-0 MAAC) gained the upper hand by taking four singles and won the match by winning in six singles, despite Brandon Gallegos winning a three-set match over Fredrik Bjerke, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.

Niagara will be the three seed in the 2013 MAAC Tournament and will face Fairfield on Saturday, April 27.

The Purple Eagles wrap up their regular season against Roberts Wesleyan on Tuesday at 2 p.m. The match will be played on campus.
 
Marist 4, Niagara University 3
 Singles competition
1. Elortegui, Michael (NIA) def. Rossi, Lorenzo (MARM) 6-4, 6-2
2. Klassen, Dalen (MARM) def. Raymond, David (NIA) 6-4, 6-4
3. Dufour-Coursol, O. (NIA) def. Reznek, Will (MARM) 6-4, 6-4
4. Dube, Joseph (MARM) def. Schwojer, Lorenz (NIA) 6-4, 6-1
5. Gallegos, Brandon (NIA) def. Bjerke, Fredrik (MARM) 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
6. Nagelstad, Trym (MARM) def. Lacasse, Mathieu (NIA) 6-3, 6-1
 
 Doubles competition
1. Bishop, Billy/Klassen, Dalen (MARM) def. Raymond, David/Dufour-Coursol, O. (NIA) 8-4
2. Nagelstad, Trym/Bjerke, Fredrik (MARM) def. Elortegui, Michael/Schwojer, Lorenz (NIA) 8-4
3. Rossi, Lorenzo/Reznek, Will (MARM) def. Gallegos, Brandon/Lacasse, Mathieu (NIA) 8-2
 
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (1,2,3,4,6,5)