New Rochelle, N.Y.—The Niagara volleyball team closed out the regular season on Sunday afternoon as they defeated Iona in four sets to finish the regular season with a 13-13 overall record and a 12-6 MAAC record.

First Set

Niagara was leading the opening set 6-4 after 10 points as there were three lead changes and six tied scores in the opening set. After the early lead from Niagara, the Gaels rallied to tie the set at seven, nine, 10, 11, and 12. Following the 12-12 tie, Niagara went on to take the next three points until Iona called a timeout. Niagara came out of the timeout and built the lead to 21-15 until Iona burned their second timeout. The Purple Eagles went on to win the set 25-17.

The Purple Eagles received kills from six Purple Eagles in the opening set. Payton Lee and Lexi Bapst each had three kills while Cassie Seminoff and Jenna Vogen had two and Laryssa Imbuzeiro and Janiah Robinson had one kill. Niagara also had two aces in the first set with Seminoff and Bapst each had one. Robinson also had one solo block in the opening set. Kylie Blessing, Bella Peroni, and Casey Brown all had assists in the first set.

Second Set

Just like the opening set, the set was back and forth with seven tied scores and three lead changes. The two teams traded points until the score was 12-8 in favor of Iona which forced a timeout from Niagara. Niagara came out of the timeout and tied the set at 14 and then took the lead. Niagara had a four point lead on multiple occasions until Iona stormed back to tie the set at 21. The teams traded points and Iona eventually took the set 26-24.

Seven Purple Eagles had a kill in the second set with Seminoff leading the way with four kills. Bapst had three kills while Imbuzeiro, Vogen, and Robinson all had two kills. Lee and Blessing had one kill in the set as Niagara hit .227 as a team. Niagara had three blocks in the set with Robinson having two solo blocks and a block assist with Seminoff. Bapst led the team with six digs as six Purple Eagles had a dig.

Third Set

The Purple Eagles took an early 3-0 in the third set and never looked back as they led the for the entire set. Iona called their first timeout with Niagara leading 7-2, Niagara then won the race to 10 as they led 10-6. Iona got the Niagara lead down to two but that would be the closest they got, Niagara led by as much as six and took the set 25-19 to take the 2-1 match lead.

Both Seminoff and Bapst had a team high four kills in the set while Robinson had two, Brown, Vogen, and Imbuzeiro all had a kill in the set. Brown led the team with five assists while Peroni had four and Blessing three. Niagara had 35 digs in the set with Peroni leading the way with nine digs. Niagara held the Gaels to a .061 hitting percentage while forcing nine errors from Iona.

Fourth Set

The fourth set saw just one lead change and two tied scores. The lead change came when Niagara took a 2-1 lead after Iona took a 1-0 lead to open the set. Niagara took five straight points to take a 5-1 lead. Iona tied the set at eight but that would be the last time the set would be tied. Niagara started to build the lead and led by as much as nine within the set as Niagara won the set 25-16 to secure the match win.

Lee and Bapst had a set high five kills as Niagara as a team had 17 kills in the set and hit .500. Vogen had three kills while Imbuzeiro had two and Seminoff and Brown each had one kill. Blessing had a team high seven assists with Brown having five and Peroni four. Niagara had two blocks with Imbuzeiro, Bapst, Lee, and Robinson all had one block assist. Niagara had 21 of the 25 points in the set and Iona had two reception errors, one set error, and one attack error on a non-block.

Niagara Notes

·       Niagara entered the weekend with a postseason berth secured, after the weekend Niagara earned the fourth seed and will face fifth seeded Rider in the first round on Friday at 5 PM.

·       The Purple Eagles finish the regular season with a .500 record overall and a .667 winning percentage in MAAC play.

·       Niagara's 13 wins ties the most wins in a season since the 2021 season.

·       Niagara's 12 MAAC wins is the most since the 2019 season when they had 12 wins.

·       The Purple Eagles hit .273 against the Gaels, Niagara hit over .250 eight times this season, they went 8-0 in those matches.

·       Bapst had a team high 15 kills along with 17 digs for the double double. It was her sixth double double of the season while setting a new season high with 15 kills.

·       Seminoff also had a double double with kills and digs, she had 11 kills and 19 digs. It was her third double double of the season.

·       Both Blessing and Brown had 19 assists while Brown had 13 digs and Blessing had 11 digs.

·       Robinson had six total blocks and finished the regular season second in the MAAC in blocks per set at 1.08.

·       Imbuzeiro finished the season as the MAAC blocking champion with 127 blocks and 1.44 blocks per set. She was the only MAAC player to have over 100 total blocks.

Up Next

Niagara looks for its revenge against Rider in the MAAC Quarterfinals after rider took both regular season matches. The Purple Eagles and Broncs square off at Fairfield on Friday at 6 PM.

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