PHOENIX – The Niagara Purple Eagles opened play at the Grand Canyon Invitational with two defeats on Friday.

Niagara 0, Southern Utah 3

NU fell in straight sets (25-17, 25-10, 25-13) to the Southern Utah Thunderbirds in its first match of the invitational.

Alexis Gray led the match with 13 assists and was one dig away from her fourth double-double of the season. Rylee Hunt led the team with 10 digs to notch double-digit digs in every match this season.  Alex Stone led NU with seven kills, followed by Taylor Edmond's six.

"We lost to a very solid Southern Utah team that is playing very solid volleyball," head coach Vilis Ozols said. "Once again we had sparks of fine play on our side that we will continue to build upon."

Niagara 0 Gonzaga 3

The Purple Eagles were swept by the Gonzaga Bulldogs, 25-12, 25-10, 25-16, in their last match of the day.

Hale once again had double-digit digs with a match-high 10. Nicole Matheis led Niagara with seven kills and Alexis Gray paced the offense with 17 assists. Gonzaga (6-2) sprinted to big leads in the first and second sets. In the third set, NU only trailed 13-10 before the Bulldogs went on a 7-1 run.

"Gonzaga is likely the toughest team we'll play all season," stated Ozols.  "Our team played very well tonight in the loss against a very good team."

Niagara concludes play at the invitational on Saturday against Charleston Southern and Grand Canyon.

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