NEW ROCHELLE — The Niagara University volleyball team won the fourth and fifth sets to defeat the Iona Gaels in the regular season finale on Sunday.
The theme of the match started in the opening set. Niagara trailed 21-10 before storming back into the set. Niagara scored eight points when Taylor Kells was serving to cut the lead to 21-18. The Purple Eagles later tied the set 23-23 on a kill by Nicole Matheis and won the set on consecutive Iona errors. The second set had 11 ties including at 25-25 before consecutive kills by Amanda Gannon handed Iona the set. Iona had its best hitting percentage in the third set which helped the Gaels come away with a 25-21 win to take a 2-1 lead. In the fourth set, the Purple Eagles had to dig themselves from a hole once again. NU trailed 17-11 before tying the set at 22-22 after a kill by Alex Stone. With the set tied at 23-23, a kill by Madison May gave the Purple Eagles the lead and an attacking error by Iona clinched the set. Niagara, powered by a match-high .318 hitting percentage, closed the deciding set on a 11-2 run to win 15-6.
Niagara will be the sixth seed in the 2016 MAAC Tournament and will face No. 3 seed Quinnipiac on Friday.
from PurpleEagles.com via IFTTT