Score: Niagara 3, Cal State Fullerton 1 (25-16, 27-25, 23-25, 25-20)
Records: Niagara (1-3), Cal State Fullerton (2-2)
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FULLERTON, Calif. – Buoyed by its Southern California natives, the Niagara University volleyball team picked up its first win of the season on Tuesday night against the Cal State Fullerton Titans.Â
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Match Summary
- Niagara won the first two sets before the Titans pulled one back in the third. The Purple Eagles used an efficient fourth set to come out with the victory.
- Trailing 12-10 in the first set, a 5-1 spurt by Niagara forced a Titans timeout. Niagara soon built a 22-14 lead on its way to taking the set.
- In the second set, the Purple Eagles and Titans exchanged points towards the end before a kill by Alex Stone and an ace by Nicole Matheis gave NU a 27-25 second set win.
- Niagara led 22-21 in the third set, but Cal State Fullerton mustered a 4-1 run to win the third set.
- After losing the first point, Niagara immediately tied the set and never looked back. The Purple Eagles had a match-best .424 attacking percentage (16 kills, two errors on 33 attacks) en route to wrapping up the match. Â
Purple Points
- The Purple Eagles' Southern Cal natives played a major role in the win.
- JUCO transfer Madison May led Niagara with a season-high 16 kills and added seven digs. Rylee Hunt had a match-high 19 digs and was second on the team with eight assists. Alexis Gray's 35 assists were tied for match-high honors. Nicole Matheis had seven kills and 15 digs, and Cameron Maris had four kills.
- Freshman Caroline Leitch had a career-high 11 kills, a team-high four aces, and five digs. Senior Alex Stone had nine kills and a .500 hitting percentage.
- Niagara had a season-high 11 aces in the match.
Coach's Corner
- "Tonight was a hard-fought win for the team. The Fullerton trio of Schneider, Kerins and Fayad gave our team all we could handle and our players have a solid sense of satisfaction for earning this road win. Alex, Mattie and Caroline countered with strong offensive numbers facilitated by Alexis running our offense and with Rylee and Nicole anchoring the defensive effort." – Vilis Ozols Â
Up Next
- The Purple Eagles head to back to the East Coast to play in the Jack Kaiser Classic
 hosted by St. John's University where they will play St. John's on Friday, Sept. 2, and Binghamton and LaSalle on Saturday, Sept. 3.