The Niagara College men's volleyball program ended 2013 on a high note earning an impressive 3-1 road victory over the Conestoga Condors. The set scores in the match were 25-15, 21-25, 25-15, 25-15. The victory moves the Knights to 9-0 entering the mid-season holiday break.
After the match Niagara College men's volleyball head coach Nathan Groenveld commented "tonight was a solid win for us. We played well and everyone on our roster saw playing time."
The Knights were led in the contest by second-year outside hitter Nathan Snippe. The towering six-foot-eight St. Ann's native finished the match with 10 kills and three blocks. The Protection, Security, and Investigations student is in his first-year with the Knights, having played last season with the Windsor Lancers in the OUA.
Also turning in a strong performance for the Knights was first-year setter James Clendenning. Coach Groenveld felt the Sudbury native "ran a great offense and put his hitters in great match-ups all night." Clendenning finished with a match high 41 assists."
The Knights will now have a full month off before returning to action on January 3rd for the annual Niagara College Invitational men's volleyball tournament.
When asked about how his team performed in the first half of the 2013-14 season, Coach Groenveld said "it is great to have banked 18 points in the first half while playing in the very competitive OCAA West." He continued "I would give us an 8 out of 10. We are constantly evaluating we do, and we will continue to make the changes necessary to improve our team."
The Knights currently sit atop the OCAA standings and weekly rankings. The program is the #2 ranked team in the CCAA's weekly national rankings, and at 9-0, are off to their best start to a season since 2000-01.
Offensively the Knights are led by third-year outside hitter Daniel Groenveld. The Welland native currently leads the OCAA in points, points-per-set, kills, and kills-per-set. Groenveld was named OCAA men's volleyball athlete of the week on November 19th, and the CCAA Athlete of the Month for November.
Other standouts for the Knights include second-year outside hitter Jeff Scott (Georgetown) who ranks among the team leaders in virtually all offensive and defensive categories. Additionally first-year middle blocker Travis Waite (St. Thomas) currently leads the OCAA in service aces.
The Knights will open the second-half of their OCAA regular season on Wednesday, January 8th when the team visits the Sheridan Bruins.
For archived broadcasts of all Niagara College men's volleyball home matches please visit www.ocaatv.com.
