PITTSBURGH – The Niagara volleyball team defeated the Norfolk State Spartans, 30-28, 25-17, 23-25, 25-22, in the opening match of the Panther Classic on Friday.

Senior Amanda Sedore led the way for the Purple Eagles (4-4) with a season-high 19 kills while freshman Nicole Matheis followed closely with 14 kills. Both added double-doubles in the match with Sedore collecting 10 digs and Matheis with 14 digs. Freshman Alexis Gray had a team-high 42 assists to go along with eight digs and classmate Rylee Hunt had a match-high 20 digs.

"The team played really intense defense today and then executed our counter offense very effectively," head coach Vilis Ozols said. "Alexis (Gray) ran our offense very well and as a freshman she is doing a great job for us. I also thought both of our outsides, Nicole (Matheis) and Amanda (Sedore) had very strong outings." 

Niagara outlasted Norfolk State (0-7) to claim the first set. NU led 19-15 when the Spartans went on a 6-1 run to take a 21-20 lead. The teams would exchange leads four times and the set was tied on five different occasions. With the score notched at 28-28, a ball handling error followed by a block by Alex Stone and Matheis, handed Niagara a 30-28 set win.

The Purple Eagles had little trouble in the second set while hitting a match-best .382 (16 kills, three errors). NU jumped out to a 5-0 lead and never trailed. However, Niagara dropped the third set. With the set tied at 19-19, NSU reeled off five straight points and held off NU to take the set 25-23.

In the fourth set, the Purple Eagles had a run of their own to put away the match. NU went on a 10-3 run to take a 19-12 lead en route to closing out the match with a 25-22 fourth set win.

The Purple Eagles continue play at the Panther Classic on Saturday against Duquesne at 10 a.m. and the host Pitt at 7 p.m.