FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Niagara Purple Eagles had their three-match winning streak stopped in a four-set defeat to the Fairfield Stags, 24-26, 26-24, 25-22, 25-15, on Sunday.

"Our team battled so hard today," head coach Vilis Ozols said. "They took Fairfield to the limit in their gym and I am very proud of the way they played. Rylee (Hunt) had another outstanding match and so did Mel (McGwin). The level of intensity and execution we played at will serve us well as we move forward to the key final matches of the conference season." 

Niagara (10-14, 7-7 MAAC) was in search of its first season sweep of Fairfield (13-9, 8-4 MAAC) since 2011; the Purple Eagles topped the Stags in five sets in their conference opener on Sept. 19. NU took a 1-0 lead after rallying to win the first set, 26-24. The opening set, which had 10 ties and six lead changes, went down to the wire with Niagara facing set point at 24-22. An attacking error by Fairfield on the en suing play put NU back on serve and consecutive kills by Rayenne Hale gave the Purple Eagles match point. Melissa McGwin finished the set off with one of her six kills in the set.  

The second set's score also finished at 26-24, however with the Stags as the victors. The set was tied at 24-24 when Fairfield got two straight kills to win the set. Fairfield sneaked past the Purple Eagles in the pivotal third set, scoring the final three points to win 25-22. The Stags used a 9-3 run to take a 17-11 lead in the fourth set on their way to winning the match.

McGwin led the Purple Eagles in kills for the third straight match with 17 while adding five blocks (one solo, four assists). Rylee Hunt led the match with 29 digs. A pair of Purple Eagles had double-doubles. Alexis Gray had a match-best 35 assists and had 18 digs for her 15th double-double of the season. Hale had 10 kills and 11 digs for her sixth double-double.

The Purple Eagles remain on the road for their next two matches versus Marist on Nov. 7 and Siena on Nov. 8.

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