FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Niagara Purple Eagles fell in straight sets, 25-18, 34-32, 25-19, to the Fairfield Stags on Saturday to begin their final regular season weekend.  

"The team competed hard today," head coach Vilis Ozols said. "I think if the second set had gone differently the momentum might have swayed in our favor.  Fairfield attacked effectively today which helped their cause.  I thought we played tough on their court and hopefully we see them again at the conference tournament." 

Melissa McGwin led Niagara (12-16, 8-9 MAAC) in kills with eight, while reigning MAAC Rookie of the Week Alexis Gray led NU with 22 assists and had six digs. Rylee Hunt shared match-high honors in digs with 18 to move into the single-season top 10 list in digs. Nicole Matheis and Allison Reis were in double-digit digs with 11 and 10, respectively.

Fairfield (16-11, 12-5 MAAC) pulled out the first set by closing the set on a 9-4 spurt. The Stags outlasted the Purple Eagles in the second set. NU led 20-16 after a kill by Gray, but Fairfield would tie the score at 24-24. From there, the set would go back-and-forth with the Purple Eagles fighting off six set points while also have two of their own.  With the set knotted at 32-32, consecutive kills by Fairfield ended the set in favor of the Stags. The third set mirrored the first set as the Stags pulled away late for the win.

Niagara wraps up its regular season schedule at Quinnipiac on Sunday at 1 p.m.