Niagara University, NY – Niagara volleyball dropped their first conference match to Iona in five sets (25-21, 20-25, 23-25, 27-25, 11-15) Friday at Hynes Athletic Center.
Set One
Iona got out to a 5-2 lead, but Niagara answered back scoring three straight points off of kills from Kinga Wronska and Sydney Wilkes to knot the game up at five.
The Gaels got out to multiple leads throughout the set but the Purple Eagles always battled back to tie the set up.
Niagara scored the final five points of the match with kills from Wronska and Blessing and a service ace from Lizzie Kraft.
Set Two
The Gales once again got out to a lead to begin the second set, leading 13-3 after the first 16 points.
The Purple Eagles put together six straight points to make it a four point game with kills from Wilkes and Liana Tolliver and an ace from Mia Schaefer.
Iona bounced back and took the second set 25-20 to knot the game up at one set a piece.
Set Three
Iona got out to a 5-2 lead to start the third set, but Niagara gained their first lead of the set with kills from Wronska and Taylor Jenkins to make it 6-5.
The teams traded points until the Gaels got out to a 17-13 lead, but once again Niagara battled back to knot the game up at 17 with three kills from Wilkes.
Both teams went on runs to end the set with Iona scoring five straight followed up by four straight from the Purple Eagles and then three from the Gaels and finally two from Niagara, but Iona closed out the set with the final point to take it 25-23.
Set Four
The Gaels continued their hot starts with a 5-2 lead to start the fourth set. Niagara took a 9-8 lead with a kill from Paisley Ka’ahanui and another ace from Schaefer.
The Purple Eagles extended their lead to 15-11 with kills from Janiah Robinson and Wronska.
Iona battled back to take a 17-16 lead and the teams traded four point runs to result in a 21-20 Gaels lead.
Both teams got match points but could not complete the job until Niagara got an attack error from the Gaels and an ace from Tolliver to take the set 27-25 and force a fifth set.
Set Five
The final set was very even throughout the first half. Iona jumped out to a three point lead but Niagara quickly tied the set back up at seven.
The Gaels were able to score five of the final six points of the game to take the set 15-10.
Game Notes
Niagara is now 33-27 all-time against Iona
Blessing set a season-high with 26 assists
Wilkes recorded a career-high 20 kills
Robinson hit double digits in kills for the first time this season with 10
Up Next
Niagara takes on Manhattan Saturday Oct. 11 at 4 pm at the Draddy Gymnasium in Riverdale, NY.
Volleyball Suffers Setback Against Iona first appeared on Niagara University Athletics.
