POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – The Niagara Purple Eagles concluded their MAAC opening weekend with a 25-19, 25-16, 25-19 defeat to preseason favorites Marist on Sunday.

"Today's loss was a combination of Marist playing very well and us still being a little bit emotionally bruised from the tough loss yesterday," head coach Vilis Ozols said. "Our downfall today was our passing. It was shaky and that put our offense into a very predictable rut. Alex Stone had a nice match." 

Sophomore Alex Stone led Niagara (4-8, 0-2 MAAC) in kills with 10 for the first time this season and was the only Purple Eagle in double-digits. The Purple Eagles offense failed to get on track today, hitting a season-low .035 in the match. Despite the offensive struggles, NU stayed close with Marist (10-2, 2-0 MAAC) in all three sets.

In the opening set, Niagara tied the set at 14-14 on a kill by freshman setter Alexis Gray, but the Red Foxes went on a 6-2 spurt on their way to winning the first set 25-19. The second set was tied at 12-12 when Marist scored four straight points to pull away for a 25-16 win behind a match-best .405 hitting percentage. In the must win third set, NU led 2-1 before Marist took a 13-7 lead. Niagara cut the lead to 14-13 on a kill by Stone before Marist used another a run to build a 20-15 lead as it closed out the set and match.

Niagara wraps up its six-match road trip with a visit to Big 4 rival Buffalo on Tuesday, Sept. 23 at 7 p.m.