Ypsilanti, MI - Niagara Volleyball fell in their second game of the Eastern Michigan Tournament in Ypsilanti, MI. The Purple Eagles lost to Purdue Fort Wayne in four sets (19-25, 25-20, 21-25, 16-25).
Set One
Purdue Fort Wayne started the game on a three-point run before
Liana Tolliver ended it with a kill and backed it up with an ace to make it a 3-2 game.
The Purple Eagles knotted the game up at four with a service ace from
Janiah Robinson, and later took a 9-8 lead, but the Mastodons were up at the media timeout break 15-10.
Out of the break, Purdue Fort Wayne extended their lead with six straight points, forcing Niagara to call another timeout.
Niagara put together three straight points with kills from Robinson and
Payton Lee that forced Purdue Fort Wayne to call their first timeout of the set.
The Purple Eagles put together three more straight points to make it a 23-19 game, starting with a kill from
Katelynn Rottman that made the Mastodons call their second timeout of the set.
Purdue Fort Wayne got the final two points out of the timeout break to take set one 25-19.
Lee and
Sydney Wilkes led the Purple Eagles with two kills apiece in the first set, while
Kylie Blessing recorded five assists.
Set Two
Niagara got the first point of the set and the teams traded points back and forth until the Purple Eagles were able to score seven of the last eight points before the media timeout to garner a 15-9 lead.
The Purple Eagles kept their lead out of the media timeout to make it 20-15 and force the Mastodons to take a timeout.
Kills from Wilkes and
Natasa Ljubicic grew the Purple Eagles' lead to six and forced Purdue Fort Wayne to take another timeout.
Niagara went on to win the set 25-20. Wilkes once again led the Purple Eagles with four kills in the set.
Noel Perkins and Blessing both tallied five assists in the set win.
Set Three
Blessing got things started for the Purple Eagles in the third set with an ace on the first play of the set.
Purdue Fort Wayne took the lead after three points and held it all the way to the media timeout, where the Mastodons led 15-10.
Niagara put together three straight points with a kill from Wilkes and an ace from
Kinga Wronska to make it a 17-14 game and force Purdue Fort Wayne to call a timeout.
The Mastodons took a two-set-to-one lead, winning set four 25-21 after not trailing since the second point of the set.
Lee led Niagara with four kills in set three, while Blessing recorded seven assists.
Set Four
Niagara started the fourth set with a 3-1 run with an ace by Rottman and two Mastodons attack errors.
Purdue Fort Wayne battled back to gain a 9-5 advantage that led to Niagara calling its first timeout of the set.
Back-to-back points from Lee and Wilkes led to a Purdue Fort Wayne timeout with the Mastodons leading 18-11.
The Mastodons took the final set of the game 25-16.Â
Game Notes
Niagara is now 0-3 all-time against Purdue Fort Wayne
Lee led Niagara with 11 kills in the contest
Katelynn Rottman made her collegiate debut and picked up six kills
Blessing led the way with 20 assists, giving her double digit assists in every game this season
Robinson recorded four blocks for the Purple and White
Up Next
Niagara wraps up the Eastern Michigan Tournament against host Eastern Michigan Sept. 6 at noon.
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