Cassie Petoskey wanted the ball. With the University of Michigan women’s volleyball team one point from eliminating Niagara from the first round of NCAA Tournament play, Petoskey jumped toward a pass from Catherine Yager, in the exact spot where she had been blocked just moments before.

She would not be denied again.

“Once I got blocked, I was like I cannot end on that, and they were kind of getting in my face, so I was like give me the ball. Give me the ball,” said Petoskey. “(Jager) knew I would put it away.”

Set over. Match over. And for Niagara—the nation’s Cinderella volleyball story—season over.

The match was never in doubt as the 16th-ranked and No. 13 tournament seed Wolverines swept the Purple Eagles 3-0 (25-4, 25-12, 25-15) in front of a sold out crowd at Cliff Keen Arena.

“Overall, very pleased with our performance. I thought our team came out and played very good defense, which is a sign of being very focused on the match,” said Michigan coach Mark Rosen, who was able to get all 14 active players on the roster playing time.

“Very pleased with the unselfishness of our team. Everybody got in the match but it wasn’t like people were just ‘hey I’m just happy to be in there.’ ” Rosen said. “People were very focused on what we were doing and very focused on executing the game plan and taking care of business.”

The hometown fans got behind the Wolverines early, and cheered loudest for the play of Petoskey, an Ann Arbor native and graduate of nearby Pioneer High School, who in addition to scoring the match-winner, had a career-high 4 kills.

“If you’re around our team, inside our team, you understand how important Cassie is to this group,” Rosen said. “Even though she doesn’t show up on the box score very often, she’s one of the best teammates anybody could ever have. For her to have that opportunity and to excel in that opportunity was great.”

For Niagara (23-9), which had a nation’s best 17-win improvement this season and made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history, the height and power of the Wolverines was overwhelming. Michigan has 11 players listed at 6’ tall or greater, while the Purple Eagles have just 4.

“It was nice being big tonight,” said right side hitter Alex Hunt, who had match high 14 kills.

“We were just excited to be part of the NCAA tournament; hats off to Michigan. They were an exceptional team, and we hope to learn from this and be back next year,” said Niagara coach Susan Clements, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Association coach of the year. “It’s definitely inspiration for us to be a part and to know that this is where we want to be.”

Michigan (25-9) will play Ohio (27-6) at Cliff Keen at 7:30 p.m. Saturday for the opportunity to advance to the Sweet 16 for third time in as many years. The Mid-American Conference regular season and tournament champion Bobcats upset Notre Dame 3-2 (23-25, 25-16, 20-25, 25-15, 15-7) prior to the Michigan-Niagara contest.

“We prepared for both teams similarly throughout the week. We weren't looking past Notre Dame, we thought they were very good, but they have very similar strengths, which is their left sides hitting them back row, and we prepared for that. I knew we would have to slow those down against Notre Dame. Michigan is about left-side points, and we're going to have to slow them down.” said Ohio coach Ryan Thies. “The other thing Michigan does really well is they serve really aggressive, and that's going to be a huge factor.

“So if we can control their left sides and pass the first ball, we need to do that to have a chance.”

Pete Cunningham covers sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by e-mail at petercunningham@annarbor.com, or by phone at 734-623-2561. Follow him on Twitter @petcunningham.