NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The Niagara Purple Eagles swept archrival Canisius, 25-23, 25-21, 25-22, on Saturday in the first Battle of the Bridge meeting of the season.
Niagara (6-11, 3-4 MAAC) continued its recent success of Canisius (5-14, 3-4 MAAC), having now won eight of the last 11 meetings and six of the last seven at the Gallagher Center.
"Our team played really well today," head coach
Vilis Ozols said. "I was particularly pleased with the adjustments they made to follow the game plan. There were numerous times that we got points and side-out as a result of key adjustments made by our hitters in our defense. We had some great individual efforts, particularly in our setting and our defensive game. Ultimately the big differentiator for us was the toughness of our serving effort."
Nicole Matheis led NU in kills with 12, chipped in nine digs and had three aces.
Alex Stone tied a seaon-high with 11 kills and freshman MacKenzie Keating, who was making her first career start and 15th appearance this season, tied a career-high with eight kills.
Alexis Gray shared match-high honors with 33 assists and had 10 digs for her ninth double-double of the season.
Rylee Hunt led the match with 21 digs.
The Purple Eagles remained calm in the closing moments in each set to pull the win. In the first set, NU jumped out to a 7-1 lead but then trailed 17-14 at one point. The set was tied at 21-21 with the Purple Eagles responding to every Canisius point before Stone put away the set with a kill.
The second set, which had 10 kills, was also tied at 21 apiece before NU scored four straight points to win the set. Niagara had a set-high .366 hitting percentage (19 kills and four errors) in the third set. NU led 22-21 and scored three straight points to end the match.
The Purple Eagles are on the road next weekend with matches against Rider on Oct. 17 and Saint Peter's on Oct. 18.
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