NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The Niagara Purple Eagles opened their home schedule with two matches as part of the Niagara Invitational on Friday. Niagara rallied to defeat the Providence Friars, 3-1, in the first match before falling to the West Virginia Mountaineers in straight sets in the nightcap.

Providence 1, Niagara 3 (Scoresheets)

Niagara opened its home schedule with a 22-25, 25-17, 25-20, 25-17 victory over Providence (0-6).

Reigning MAAC Rookie of the Week Nicole Matheis had a match-high 21 kills and finished with eight digs, while senior outside hitter Amanda Sedore had 15 kills. Freshman setter Alexis Gray had a match-best 48 digs and collected 16 digs for her first career double-double. Rylee Hunt tied for a match-high in digs with 17. Allison Reis joined her in double-digit digs with 11.

"This was a good win for our home opener," head coach Vilis Ozols said.  "I thought the players overcame a little bit of nerves and then got into the match after the first set.  Both our offense and defense had some nice numbers that made for a nicely balanced effort for our young team."

The Purple Eagles dropped the first set despite hitting .406 with 16 kills and only three errors. In the second set, NU seized control early while benefitting from 10 Providence errors. Niagara led 18-10 before closing out the set, 25-17, to even the match at 1-1.

The pivotal third set went the way of the Purple Eagles, though NU had to rally for it. Trailing 15-11, a kill by Melissa McGwin sparked an 8-1 run to force a Friar timeout. Providence cut the lead to 22-20, but Niagara scored the next three points to take the set.

The Purple Eagles jumped out a commanding 10-2 lead to open the fourth set. Niagara held off a push midway in the set at 13-11 before pulling away for the win. NU finished the set with its second best hitting percentage (.344) of the match.

West Virginia 3, Niagara 0 (Scoresheets)

The Purple Eagles (2-4) fell to Big 12 powerhouse West Virginia (5-1) in straight sets, 25-16, 25-17, 25-17, in the final match on Friday.

"I thought our team showed moments of really solid play, but ultimately West Virginia's physicality and execution prevailed," Ozols said. "This was a good learning experience for our team and showed several areas we can address in our adjustments. The team is growing and learning and I'm pleased with the development we're seeing in this competitive environment"

NU opened the match with three straight points before WVU tied the score at 6-6. The Mountaineers eventually led 18-11 en route to a 25-16 victory. In the second set, Niagara led 6-2 before WVU tied it at 9-9. NU trailed 14-12, but the Mountaineers broke open the set to secure a 25-17 win. In the third set, NU once again scored the first three points, but WVU's match-high 16 kills and six blocks in the set propelled it to a 25-17 win to finish the match.  

Matheis led Niagara in kills for the fourth straight match, finishing with seven. Gray led NU with 21 assists and tied Hunt with seven digs.

Niagara concludes play in the invitational on Saturday against Gardner-Webb (1-5) on Saturday at 1 p.m. or immediately following West Virginia vs. Providence. The match will be streamed live online via the Niagara Sports Network.