NIAGARA UNIV. — The Niagara volleyball team will play its final regular season matches of the season at Manhattan on Saturday and Iona on Sunday.
Niagara enters the last weekend of matches with a 9-7 conference record and has clinched a spot in the 2016 MAAC Tournament. The Purple Eagles wrapped up their home schedule last weekend with a four-set win over Quinnpiac on Saturday and a narrow five-set defeat to conference-leading Fairfield on Sunday. NU set a season-high 82 digs, and second most kills (68) and assists (66) in the loss versus Fairfield. Alex Stone finished with eight kills and four block assists in her final home match of her career. Junior Madison May is coming off a career-high 22 kill match, set against Fairfield last weekend. Alexis Gray and Nicole Matheis lead the team in double-doubles for the season. Gray has 12, and Matheis holds 10. Libero Rylee Hunt posted her first double-double of the season with 31 digs and a career-high 14 assists in the loss to Fairfield. Freshman Caroline Leitch has had back-to-back matches with 15 or more kills. Taylor Kells recorded a career-high 10 digs in the win versus Quinnipiac.
Rylee Hunt was named MAAC Libero of the Week on November after leading the Purple Eagles in digs per set with 5.17 in three matches. Hunt tied a then-season-high with 23 digs in the Purple Eagles’ four-set win versus Quinnipiac on Saturday. Hunt notched her first double-double of the season against Fairfield on Sunday. Hunt had a career-high 14 assists to go along with a season and match-high 31 digs. This is the second time in her career she has been named MAAC Libero of the Week; she earned the award on Sept. 22, 2015.
Alexis Gray is three aces away from tying Tammy Greek (’93) for second in career aces at 139. Alex Stone is 23 total blocks away from tying Tammy Greek (’93) for second in career blocks (412).
The Purple Eagles maintain their position amongst the top 10 in service aces in the NCAA. They currently rank ninth with 184 team service aces. Alexis Gray ranks ninth as well in the NCAA in service aces with 47 of her own.
from PurpleEagles.com via IFTTT
