Thursday, November 7th saw the Niagara College men's volleyball program prove worthy of the number two ranking in the CCAA as they knocked off the number five ranked Humber Hawks in four sets. The set scores for the thrilling road victory were 26-24, 16-25, 37-35, and 25-23.
The matchup saw the top-two teams in the OCAA square off for the first-time this season and the result was a demonstration of the elite men's volleyball talent that exists in the OCAA's West Division.
After the match Knights head coach Nathan Groenveld commented "tonight was a great match against Humber. It was a tough back and forth battle and a great display of why the OCAA West is one of the top divisions in the country."
The Knights received outstanding efforts for all of the team's seven starters. Leading the way offensively was reigning OCAA men's volleyball rookie of the year Jeff Scott. The six-foot-four outside hitter was dominant in all facets of the game, recording 17 kills, five stuff blocks and 10 digs. The second-year Georgetown, Ontario native is also the current Niagara College athlete of the week.
Also turning in a strong performance for Niagara was first-year libero Bailey Cochrane. The five-foot-eleven Barrie native recorded a match high 18 digs, and his strong passing game helped the Knights offense throughout the match. Cochrane is currently studying Sales and Marketing at Niagara College.
Coach Groenveld spoke highly of the defensive specialist Cochrane stating "Bailey had his best match of the year, he dug a ton of balls out there for us, and he really stabilized our service reception tonight."
Third-year outside hitter Daniel Groenveld continued his strong play finishing the match with 17 total points. The Welland native commented, "we had a lot of fun playing in that environment and battling through all the close sets. We stuck together as a team really well even when the times got tough and just battled through until the job was done."
Up next for the Knights is a home court matchup with the Mohawk Mountaineers on Sunday, November 10th at 3:30pm. The event will see the Knights raise funds and awareness for Remembrance Day and Veteran's Affairs Canada. All ticket sales will be donated to the Royal Canadian Legion #613.
