POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – The Purple Eagles matched a 27-year-old record with 28 block assists Sunday afternoon, but it was the Marist Red Foxes who came out on top, 3-1 (21-25, 25-20, 18-25, 20-25). Sophomore
Laryssa Imbuzeiro tallied eight block assists, two off the four-set program record.
Match Recap
First Set
• Niagara took the first two point but then found itself in an 8-4 hole early on.
• The Purple Eagles would storm back to tie the contest at eight, highlighted by two aces from
Kylie Blessing.
• From there Marist would take a three-point lead, 13-10 before NU rolled off four-straight point to take a 14-13 lead. The run was highlighted by kills from
Kelly McArthur and
Taylor Allen, and an ace from
Casey Brown.
• Marist would regain a lead after taking three-straight of its own to go up 17-15.
• The game would later be tied at 20-20 before a 4-1 run by the Red foxes clinched the set, 25-21, for Marist.
Second Set
• Niagara would use kills by Allen, Imbuzeiro, and
Kinga Wronska to take an early 3-1 lead over Marist.
• With the score tied at six, the Purple and White would roll off three-unanswered to take a 9-6 lead. The spurt was highlighted by a block assist from Allen and
Kelly McArthur.
• Niagara's lead would grow to 14-9 following another three-point swing for NU.
• Niagara would go on to win the set in large part to a 6-4 run to close out the set. Imbuzeiro sealed the set win for the Purple Eagles with her third kill of the set.
Third Set
• Marist took the first three points of the set before Niagara bounced back to take the next two and pull within one.
• Niagara would tie the game at six before a 4-2 Red Fox run put Marist up by three, 10-8.
• Marist would use an 8-4 spurt to take a 18-12 advantage over the Purple and White.
• Niagara would take the next two points with kills by McArthur and Imbuzeiro.
• The Red Foxes would go on to take seven of the next 11 points to take the third set, 25-18.
Fourth Set
• The fourth set started the same way as the third with three-straight points for the Red Foxes before NU was able to get on the board.
• Niagara would tie the game at 3-3 and then battle through the next six points to keep the game tied, 6-6.
• The Red Foxes would then go on a 7-0 run to take a commanding 13-6 lead over the Purple Eagles.
• The Marist lead would grow 22-12 before NU tallied three-straight to make it 22-15. Wronska and Blessing helped NU get within seven.
• Marist would take the next two to get into match point where Niagara would then break off five unanswered to make it a 24-20 game.
• That would be as close as NU would get as Marist took the next point to secure the set and earn a 3-1 match win.
Niagara Notes
• The Purple and White's 28 block assists match a program four-set record set on Oct. 13, 1995 against Buffalo.
• Niagara's 14 total blocks were a season-high.
• Imbuzeiro recorded an eight block assists which was two off a four-set record set by multiple Purple Eagles. The eight block assists was one off her career-high of nine set last season at Rider.
• Libero
Bella Peroni finished the four-set match with a career-high 29 digs, surpassing her previous career-best mark of 26 set against Canisius.
• Wronska recorded 12 kills 11 digs for her fourth double-double of the season.
• As a team, Niagara has a .147 hitting percentage, led by
Kylie Blessing's .857 as she went 6-for-7 on her attempts.
Up Next
• Niagara will stay on the road as it travels to Connecticut for bouts with Fairfield and Quinnipiac next Saturday, Oct. 22 and Sunday, Oct. 23.
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