The Niagara College men's volleyball program formally opened their 2013 exhibition season with an October 6th road match versus the Toronto University Blues. The Blues won the match in four sets, and the set scores were 22-25, 25-22, 27-25 and 25-23.
Despite the loss, Knights head coach Nathan Groenveld felt "As a young team it was a great opportunity to play a quality OUA opponent and gain invaluable experience playing extremely close sets. These types of matches are great to have in October and will help our coaching staff implement more system into our play as we approach the season."
The Knights were led offensively by outside hitter Daniel Greonveld. After spending the last two seasons with the McMaster Marauders, Groenveld led all players with a match high 20 points. The local welland native is in his third year of eligibility and is studying General Business at Niagara College.
Also enjoying strong games for the Knights were a pair off-season recruits. Five-foot-eleven libero Bailey Cochrane (Barrie), and six-foot-two setter Ricky Brar (Brampton) provided strong performances. Cochrane's defensive passing ability allowed Brar to quarterback the Knights' offense throughout the contest.
Veteran outside hitter Jeff Scott (Georgetown) also provided a solid season debut. Scott is the reigning OCAA and OCAA West Division rookie of the year.
"Our young guys had a chance to compete in a tough road environment and I am proud in the way they fundamentally executed, and also in the way we competed" add Coach Groenveld. He continued "these are great characteristics to have - raw talent combined with hard work. I am really looking forward to this season."
The Knights will resume pre-season play on October 11th when the team takes paart in the annual Adidas Cup hosted by Durham College.
