ScoresheetsNIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The Niagara volleyball team dropped a hard-fought four-set decision to the Siena Saints, 25-21, 23-25, 25-19, 28-26, on Sunday in its final home match of the season.
"This was such a close match and came down to two very determined teams trading opportunities and I give Siena a lot of credit," said head coach Vilis Ozols. "Our defense and their offense, and vice versa, kept exchanging advantages but ultimately they kept attacking and at the most critical times of the match to prevail. I was very proud of our players. I feel like we are peaking at the right time as we head into our championship segment and we're excited for our final few matches of the season."
Prior to the start of the match, the program honored its three seniors –
Tara Topolski,
Allison Reis and
Amanda Sedore. Four Purple Eagles (12-15, 8-8 MAAC) had double-digit kills.
Alex Stone led the team with 14 kills,
Rayenne Hale had 11, and
Melissa McGwin and Sedore each had 10 kills.
Alexis Gray recorded her team-best 12th double-double with a team-high 49 assists and 10 digs; she also had a team-best six block assists.
Rylee Hunt led NU with 14 digs and is now 10th on the single-season digs list. Classmate
Nicole Matheis had 11 digs.
Today's match had 36 ties and 19 lead changes. Siena (14-14, 12-4 MAAC) slipped past Niagara in the opening set when the Saints went on a 4-0 spurt to take a 23-19 lead. The Saints would eventually win the set, 25-21. The Purple Eagles bounced back to win the second set, 25-23. The Purple Eagles outlasted the Saints in the set that had 12 ties and six lead changes, with Sedore providing the set-winning kill. Siena used a set-best .379 hitting percentage to pull away to win the third set, 25-19. The fourth set was another battle of wills. The Purple Eagles had set point twice and faced set point once before falling 28-26 to end the match.
Niagara concludes its regular season with matches at Fairfield (Nov. 15) and Quinnipiac (Nov. 16).
