The Niagara College men's volleyball program advanced to the OCAA Championship tournament on Sunday, February 16th earning a hard fought 3-2 victory over the visiting Canadore College Panthers. The set scores in the contest were 25-21, 25-20, 18-25, 21-25, 15-10.
The Knights looked unstoppable in the early stages of the contest opening the match with impressive wins in the first two sets. Canadore however responded in sets three and four, led by OCAA East Division scoring champion Charlie Hancock. Hancock finished with a match high 21 kills.
Niagara College men's volleyball head coach Nathan Groenveld commented "Canadore came to play, and that speaks to the level of play in the OCAA right now. They put a ton a service pressure on us, and at times dug basically everything."
Leading the way for the Knights was veteran outside hitter Daniel Groenveld (Welland). Greonveld finished with 17 kills, five service aces, and a block.
Coach Groenveld continued "we hit for a high percentage, and had some quality swings. Our service game was strong and we played well at the net. Moving forward we need to remain focused and concentrate on our process."
The Knights will now advance to the OCAA Championship tournament being hosted by Georgian College from February 20-22. The team's opening round opponent will be the Durham College Lords, who defeated the St. Clair Saints to advance to the OCAA Championship.
The Knights and Lords have faced each other in three exhibition matches this season, with the Knights earning victories on all three occasions.
