The Niagara College men's volleyball program improved to 6-0 on the season after defeating the Sheridan Bruins three sets to one on Thursday, November 14th at the Welland Campus Athletic Centre. The set scores for the match were 25-18, 24-26, 25-18, 25-16.
The Knights were led offensively by third-year outside hitter Daniel Groenveld. The six-foot-four native of Welland was unstoppable for the Knights recording a game high 24 kills, and three service aces. Groenveld is the current Niagara College athlete of the week, and is among the OCAA leaders in kills, points, points-per-set, and kills-per-set.
After the match Niagara College men's volleyball head coach Nathan Groenveld commented "I thought overall we played well. Our net defense was very strong, and the nine blocks we had were a major factor."
Despite the victory, Coach Groenveld was quick to praise the performance by the young Bruins side. "they played fantastic defense, and dug a ton of balls tonight." He continued "however I was happy with how our team responded to their challenge."
Turning in his strongest performance of the 2013-14 season was first-year middle blocker Travis Waite. The six-foot-four, native of St. Thomas, Ontario contributed in all facets of the game, finishing with four kills, four service aces, and four blocks.
Coach Groenveld spoke highly of Waite after the match, commenting "for Travis to record 12 points while getting limited attempts was huge!"
The 6-0 start to the season gives the Knights' their best start since 2000-2001. The Knights currently hold the second spot in the CCAA's national rankings.
The next two weeks will see the team enter arguably their toughest portion of their schedule. They will face the 2012-13 OCAA Bronze medalist Redeemer Royals on Wednesday, November 20th followed by the CCAA's #10 ranked Fanshawe Falcons at home on November 29th.
