WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL: Purple Eagles headed off to Michigan

Sports

November 29, 2009

Staff Reports The Tonawanda News Sun Nov 29, 2009, 11:44 PM EST

They were glued to the television at 3 p.m. Sunday. But they weren’t watching the Bills game.

Members of the Niagara women’s volleyball team and their supporters gathered at Dwyer Arena to watch ESPNews and find out their destination and opposition for the program’s first NCAA tournament game.

The Purple Eagles found out they will face Michigan, the nation’s No. 13 team, at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Ann Arbor.

“It was awesome to see Niagara on the screen,” coach Susan Clements said. “We are really excited about the draw. We thought we’d be regionalized and kind of close, so when we saw that we’d be playing Michigan, we continued to think that we have a real shot.

“Michigan is a lot taller than us, but we are quick, so we can look to push the pace and have great ball control. We are going to go out and play our game aggressively.”

The Purple Eagles were the youngest team in the nation a year ago, and won just six games. They’re 17-win improvement this year was the best in the nation, and culminated in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title.

“This is an awesome feeling, something we knew we could achieve,” said sophomore setter Michelle James, a first-team all-conference selection. “We can’t wait to play Michigan. We’ve been working on it all season to be in the NCAA tournament. It will be a little nervous at first, but I’m sure we will get it together and play hard.”

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