Box Score
JERSEY CITY - Saint Peter's fell to Niagara 3-0 in their second meeting of the season at the Yanitelli Center this afternoon.
Danielle Lopez led the flock with six kills totaling 7.0 points and Marlena Budna followed with five kills and four block assists adding the team's high of 8.0 points. Today's playmaker was Amanda Colombo with six digs and the team high in kill percentage of .333.
The first set was rough for the Peacocks as the Purple Eagles rallied them to a 12-4 lead at the midpoint mark. Saint Peter's was unable to come back before Niagara won the set 25-11.
In the second set, Saint Peter's fought to stay in the match with Niagara as they reached three ties in the beginning of the set at 3-3, 6-6 and 7-7. The Purple Eagles put together an 11-point-run to take and extend the lead over the Peacocks to 18-7. Unfortunately the Purple Eagles got the best of them as they finished the set 25-14.
The Peacocks came out on fire with a new lineup change, that kept the high energy as the teams were neck and neck early in the third set. A kill by Colombo started Saint Peter's pull away as they evened the score at 9-9. Five points later the Peacocks were able to one-up Niagara, 14-13 just over the midpoint mark. The Peacocks were only down two at 16-18 until they cut the deficit with a sideout and two kills from Colombo and Lopez retaking the lead over Niagara at 19-18. Frustration got to the Purple Eagles as they were forced into a timeout. The timeout refueled Niagara as they hit a 6-point stretch upping the score 24-20. Saint Peter's scored only two more points before Niagara stole the win 25-22.
"Today's third set final lineup that we tried is what we are going to stick to from this point moving forward," said head coach Monica Dempsey. "We found a lot of energy and a lot of momentum and I think that energy and momentum is going to carry over into tomorrow and we are really looking for a win, and we are very confident that we will find one."
next up… Saint Peters will compete against Canisius tomorrow then head on the road to face Quinnipiac on Oct. 29th and Fairfield on the 30th.
