Sunday, February 14th will see the Niagara College men's volleyball program host the Canadore College Panthers in OCAA post-season action at the Welland Campus Athletic Centre. The Knights finished the 2013-14 regular season in third place in the highly competitive OCAA West Division, while the Panthers enter the post-season as the sixth seed in the East Division.
Heading into the mid-season break, the Knights had a record of 9-0 and seemed poised to earn an automatic berth in the OCAA Championship. Injuries however caught up with the young Knights, causing the team to lose three straight matches to tough OCAA opponents.
Recent weeks however have seen the team slowly return to full strength, including the return of first-year setter Ricky Brar. The Brampton native served as the quarterback of the Knights offense until an injury in late November sidelined him for much of the second half. Brar returned to action last week, and showed little rust earning Niagara College male athlete of the week honours for his performance.
Niagara College men's volleyball head coach Nathan Groenveld commented "the second half of the season was a battle in every sense of the word. That being said we gained a ton of experience and learned a lot of valuable lessons that will be crucial in our playoff run. We have played in some tight matches and now have a better understanding of what it will take going forward."
Sunday, will see the Knights face an unfamiliar opponent in the Canadore Panthers. The Panthers finished sixth in their division with a record of eight wins and 10 losses. The team is led by a pair of outside hitters in Charlie Hancock and Dan Trudel. Both are dynamic players that rank among the OCAA leaders in most offensive stats.
Coach Groenveld continued "Canadore is a team that is driven by a talented and high scoring offense. We do not know a lot about them, but we will watch a ton of film and get a solid game plan in place. Our ability to adjust in game has been a huge strength of ours all year and will be critical in the playoffs."
First serve for Sunday's matchup is set for 1:00pm at the Welland Campus Athletic Centre. Admission is free for all Niagara College students, and for those under the age of 18. The match will be live broadcasted via www.ocaatv.com.
