NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The Niagara Purple Eagles used a total team effort to sidestep the Saint Peter's Peacocks in a 25-21, 25-15, 17-25, 25-19 win on Sunday.
The Purple Eagles (5-10, 1-3 MAAC) received significant contribution from the freshman class to the seniors. Freshman outside hitter
Nicole Matheis led the team with 13 kills, while classmate
Rayenne Hale had a career-high 11 kills, including seven in the fourth set, and career-best .500 hitting percentage. Freshman setter
Alexis Gray led the match with 39 assists and added 16 digs for her fourth double-double of the season and second in two days, and freshman
Rylee Hunt led the match with 17 digs.
Sophomores
Alex Stone and
Taylor Edmonds had eight and four kills, respectively, while combining for seven block assists, and junior
Logan Rae had six kills and added seven digs. Senior
Amanda Sedore earned her team-leading fifth double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs.
"I was particularly excited to see Rayenne Hale go off. She had a monster match," head coach
Vilis Ozols said. "She definitely took the team on her shoulders at critical junctures and carried us to the win. I thought our outside hitters, Amanda (Sedore) and Nicole (Matheis), and our passers, Rylee (Hunt) and Allison (Reis), were also really effective in netting the victory."
Niagara was strong defensively throughout the match, too. The Purple Eagles registered 68 digs which are the most in a four-set match this season and recorded 10 blocks which are the third most.
The Purple Eagles looked certain to ease to their first MAAC win of the season after cruising to wins in the first and second sets. In the opening set, NU broke a 15-15 tie with a 5-1 spurt sparked by an ace by Matheis as the Purple Eagles went on to win the set 25-21. In the second set, the Purple Eagles used a 6-0 run and a match-best .469 hitting percentage on their way to winning the second set, 25-15.
Saint Peter's (2-9, 0-3 MAAC) didn't go away quietly. The Peacocks raced to a 17-6 lead in the third set and won it 25-17 to force a fourth set. Niagara was downed in the fourth 18-12 when it ended the set on a 13-1 run en route to winning the match and snapping a six-match skid in the process.
"I think the players are very excited about this win because they fought back some adversity when Saint Peter's really turned up the heat," Ozols added.
The Purple Eagles are back in action on Saturday, Oct. 4 to play at rival Canisius at 1 p.m.
