NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. — Niagara volleyball fell to Battle of the Bridge rival Canisius in three sets (17-25, 24-26, 21-25) Tuesday night at Gallagher Center.
The Purple Eagles fell to 1-10, 0-3 Metro, while the Golden Griffins improved to 2-11, 1-2 Metro.
First set 17-25
Paisley Ka'ahanui served the first three points, capped by an ace, and the Purple Eagles led 3-0 after kills by Katelynn Rottman and Payton Lee.
Canisius answered with a 5-0 run to lead 5-3, and Niagara's swings started to leak. The Purple Eagles did claw back. They ripped off a 3-0 run to lead 6-5 and pulled within 11-8 on a Lee kill. A Canisius run of five straight, from 14-12 to 19-12, made it 19-12, and the lead grew to 24-15 before Niagara scored the two points at the end. The last of those was a block by Jakayla Brown, but Isroff tallied a kill to give the Golden Griffins a 25-17 set win.
Second set 24-26
Niagara was down 10-6 after Canisius went up 7-3 and pushed the margin back out. A five-point Purple Eagles run began with a Canisius service error and included a Ka'ahanui ace and two Doyle kills, and it put Niagara up 11-10.
The lead swapped hands through the middle of the set. Niagara went up 15-14 when Brown blocked Emma Isroff, and it led again at 17-16. Canisius pushed ahead 19-17, but Doyle got the score tied at 19 from Noel Perkins's set. Kadence Goolsby tied it at 20 and Doyle at 21, and Canisius service errors tied it again at 22.
Chloe Moreland then tied it twice more with kills at 23-23 and 24-24, saving two set points. But Moreland's next serve, with Niagara serving at 24-24, went into the net to give Canisius the 25-24 edge, and Azoria Davis put away the winner for 26-24.
Third set 21-25
Niagara trailed 4-3 early in the third set before Isroff went to the service line. She served eight straight points, three of them aces, and Canisius led 13-3.
Goolsby ended the run with a kill, and Niagara went on three separate 3-0 runs. It cut the deficit to 16-10, a Doyle ace was part of that stretch, then to 19-17 after Maille Malone's kill and two Canisius errors. Canisius closed the gap back up with a 3-0 run of its own.
Niagara got as close as 24-21 on a Lee kill, her fifth of the set, before Malone hit into the block for the final point.
Niagara Notes
Niagara is now 45-51 all-time against Canisius
Lee and Doyle led the Purple and White with eight kills a piece
Malone recorded her first collegiate kill
Ka'ahanui tallied 17 assists
Up Next
Niagara heads on the road for the first time in conference play to take on Saint Peter's Friday October 2 at 6:00 pm.
