HAMDEN, Conn. – The Niagara Purple Eagles picked up their third straight victory with a four-set win over the Quinnipiac Bobcats, 22-25, 25-17, 25-21, 25-16, on Saturday.

"Anytime you are able to walk into an opposing gym and exit with a win is a good day," head coach Vilis Ozols said. "Both Alexis (Gray) and Meghan (Higley) ran a very balanced offense as seen by the spread of kills between all of the hitters. Quinnipiac played with heart and intensity and we needed to play well to recover after the first set loss." 

Alexis Gray had her 14th double-double of the season with a match-high 36 assists and 13 digs. Melissa McGwin led NU in kills for the second straight match with 13 kills, followed by Nicola Matheis with 12 and Alex Stone with 11.

The Purple Eagles (10-13, 7-6 MAAC) had to battle back from a set down for the second consecutive match. Quinnipiac (3-22, 1-12 MAAC), buoyed by a 7-1 run to break a 10-10 tie, held off a later NU push to win the first set, 25-22. Niagara used a 9-1 run in the second set to break a 14-14 tie on its way to winning the set, 25-17.

The Purple Eagles had a set-best .367 hitting percentage in the third set. Niagara trailed 18-16 before reeling off six straight points to force a Bobcat timeout; NU closed out the set with a kill by Taylor Edmonds. The offense remained efficient in the fourth set, with 12 kills and only two errors with a .345 hitting percentage. Niagara never trailed in the set en route to improving to 8-0 all-time against Quinnipiac.

Niagara continues its road trip against Fairfield on Sunday at 1 p.m.

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