Sunday, January 19th saw a men's volleyball matchup between two of the top four teams in the CCAA at the Welland Campus Athletic Centre. The #4 ranked Knights played host to the #2 ranked Humber Hawks, and the matchup lived up to large crowd's expectations. The two teams played a five-set marathon that saw the visiting Hawks edge out a hard fought victory.
The set scores in the contest were 25-20, 18-25, 25-18, 24-26, and 15-12.
After the match Niagara College men's volleyball head coach Nathan Groenveld commented "tonight's match was a true testament to the quality of the OCAA West Division as one of the top divisions in the country. Tonight was a game of adjustments for both sides and the game came down to a very close 5th set."
The difference in the match proved to be a pair of experienced middle blockers for the Hawks. Fifth year Andre Brown and fourth year Matt Isaacs combined for 18 points for the Hawks that helped determine the eventual victor.
Both teams saw their depth tested in the contest, as the marathon match saw 21 total players touch the court.
Outside Hitters Nathan Snippe (St. Anns) and Daniel Groenveld (Welland) paced the Knights in the contest finishing with 19 and 18 points each.
First-year libero Bailey Cochrane (Barrie) continued his outstanding play. The five-foot-11 Sales and Marketing student earned high praise from Coach Groenveld for his performance. "Bailey continued to demonstrate why he is one of the top defensive players in the OCAA as he finished with a game-high 19 digs."
The loss drops the Knights to 11-2 on the season, and sees the Hawks (12-1) move in to first-place in the ultra-competitive OCAA West Division.
The Knights will have a full week off before heading to London on January 25th to take on the Fanshawe Falcons (8-3).
