Niagara University, N.Y. — Niagara volleyball fell to Fairfield 3-1 (17-25, 19-25, 25-22, 17-25) in their Metro Conference opener on Friday night at the Gallagher Center.
The Purple Eagles dropped to 1-8 overall and 0-1 in Metro play, while the Stags improved to 7-5 overall and 1-0 in conference play.
Set 1: Fairfield 25, Niagara 17
Niagara traded points with Fairfield early and was tied at 7-7 but Fairfield's Sophia Nagy went on a service run that pushed the visitors ahead 11-8. The Purple Eagles never closed the gap after that. Karlotta Kattai had four kills in the opener, but three Niagara hitting errors during a late Fairfield surge, capped by an Emma Bortolotti kill, allowed the Stags to close it out 25-17.
Set 2: Fairfield 25, Niagara 19
Fairfield opened the second set with a 4-2 lead with Kattai recording a kill for the Purple Eagles and the set stayed tight into the middle points, tying at 10-10 on a Ka'ahanui-to-Lee kill. But Fairfield answered with a run built on Carlin and Bortolotti kills to go up 19-14, and Niagara couldn't recover, falling 25-19.
Set 3: Niagara 25, Fairfield 22
Niagara's most complete set of the night kept the match alive. Fairfield jumped out 7-4 behind Carlin and Sykut, but Niagara answered with a Kattai-to-Rottman connection that produced back-to-back kills to tie it at 13-13, then traded points before a late push. Kills from Jenkins, Goolsby and Kattai, set up repeatedly by Ka'ahanui, carried Niagara to set point, and a Fairfield hitting error by Harlan Wyche set up match point before Taylor Jenkins closed it out with a kill off a Sykut serve for a 25-22 win.
Set 4: Fairfield 25, Niagara 17
Niagara built an early 2-0 cushion on a block-aided attack error and a Ka'ahanui ace, but Fairfield seized control with a five-point run, a Bortolotti kill, back-to-back Dufourt kills and a Dufourt ace, to go up 5-2 and never trailed again. Fairfield stretched the lead to 14-6 on a pair of Wyche aces and cruised from there, closing out the match 25-17.
Game Notes
Niagara is now 11-50 all-time against Fairfield
Kattai led the Purple and White in kills, tying her season-high with 14
Ka'ahanui recorded her second 20 assist game of the season with 21
Kattai recorded 3+ service aces for the third straight game
Up Next
Niagara wraps up the home weekend taking on Sacred Heart Saturday September 26 at 2:00 pm inside the Gallagher Center
