Thursday morning saw the OCAA hand out the end of year men's volleyball hardware at the annual OCAA awards banquet and the Niagara College Knights were well represented. Outside Hitter Daniel Groenveld was named a CCAA All-Canadian and an OCAA First-Team all-star, while Libero Bailey Cochrane was also named a First-Team all-star and a member of the OCAA All-Rookie team.

Niagara College director of athletics & recreation Matthew Davies commented "we are extremely proud of our men's volleyball program and the accomplishments of Daniel and Bailey. National and provincial accolades such as these represent the culture of high performance that we are continuing to build at Niagara College."

The selection of Groenveld as an All-Canadian marks the second time in as many years a member of the Niagara College men's volleyball program has been named a CCAA All-Canadian. The 2012-13 season saw Shayne Petrusma named Niagara College's sixth All-Canadian, while Groenveld's selection marks the seventh.

Groenveld is a six-foot-four native of Welland and is in his first year with the Knights. He spent the previous two seasons competing as a member of the McMaster University Marauders at the CIS level. He led the Knights in most offensive categories including points (275), points-per-set (4.4), kills (237), kills-per-set (3.82), and service aces (27).

First-year libero Bailey Cochrane stands at five-foot-eleven, and plays a key defensive role for the Knights. The Barrie native enjoyed an outstanding rookie campaign despite missing five matches due to injury. The Sales and Marketing student played just 13 matches this season and finished fourth in the OCAA in digs (188), and first in digs-per-set (3.60).

Cochrane was named an OCAA First-Team all-star and was also named a member of the OCAA All-Rookie team.

Niagara College men's volleyball head coach Nathan Groenveld commented "it's fantastic that the OCAA recognized two of our student-athletes today. Both Bailey and Daniel had great seasons, and I think these awards are a testament to the caliber of athlete that we have competing for our men's volleyball program."

The Niagara College men's volleyball program will begin their quest for an OCAA Championship on Thursday night at 6:00pm when the team takes on the Durham College Lords. The game can be viewed live at www.sportslive.ca. For more information please visit the tournament website at http://www.georgiancollege.ca/campus-life/athletics/2014-ocaa-mens-volleyball-championship/