Niagara University, N.Y. — Niagara volleyball fell in three sets 18-25, 17-25, 12-25 to Quinnipiac Saturday afternoon inside the Gallagher Center.
The Purple Eagles fell to 2-15, 1-8 Metro Conference, while the Bobcats improved to 7-13, 6-3 Metro Conference.
Set 1
Niagara hung with Quinnipiac early, tying it at 3-3 on a Kattai kill. Quinnipiac then went on a 6-1 run that made it 9-4.
Niagara answered late. Payton Lee's kill made it 15-9, and Perkins then served four straight points. Kattai had a kill, and Quinnipiac committed three straight errors, one on a block by Kadence Goolsby and Jakayla Brown. The Bobcats' lead was down to 15-13.
Quinnipiac closed the gap with a 5-0 run, from 18-14 to 23-14, with Sila Yildiz serving the last four points. Rottman's kill began a 3-0 Niagara spurt that made it 23-17. Goolsby's kill cut it to 24-18, but Ragusa ended the set.
Set 2
Niagara led for stretches in the second set. A 3-0 run, which included a Kattai service ace, put the Purple Eagles up 7-4.
Quinnipiac tied it at 7-7, and Niagara went back ahead 8-7 on a Goolsby kill. The Bobcats then scored four straight with Ragusa serving, including a kill by Ragusa and another by Asia Belli, to lead 12-8.
Niagara trimmed the deficit to 14-12 and 16-14, with Kattai delivering back-to-back kills for the second one. Quinnipiac then went up 20-14 on three straight points on Yildiz's serve. Natasa Ljubicic was part of back-to-back Niagara blocks that made it 20-16, but the Bobcats closed on kills by Tonelli and a Purple Eagles error.
Set 3
Belli served seven straight points to start the set, including two aces, and Quinnipiac led 7-0 before Paisley Ka'ahanui's kill finally got Niagara on the board.
Perkins served three straight to close it to 9-5, with Kattai's kill and two Quinnipiac errors. Quinnipiac pushed the lead back to double digits at 12-6 and 17-9, getting an ace from Belli late for a 19-9 lead.
Out of a Niagara timeout Ka'ahanui recorded a kill, but the Bobcats scored six out of the last eight points to take the final set 25-12.
Niagara Notes
Niagara is now 19-9 all-time against Quinnipiac
Kattai led the Purple and White with 10 kills
Rottman, Kattai and Ka'ahanui all tallied an ace
Perkins recorded 10 assists
Up Next
Niagara heads back on the road to take on Siena Friday October 23 at 6:00 pm in Loudonville, NY
