On Wednesday, January 7, the Niagara College volleyball programs went on the road to face the Humber Hawks.  Both teams were looking to jump out to a strong start for the second half of the OCAA season.  Unfortunately for the Knights, the start to 2015 came against the powerhouse Hawks.

The women's volleyball (7-3, 3^rd West) program started the evening against a Humber (10-0, 1^st West) team that hasn't lost an OCAA regular or post-season match in nearly four years.  The Knights lost in four sets – 21-25, 21-25, 25-21, 10-25.  A few errors prevented Niagara from gaining momentum and taking over the match.

"The second set was really close in the sense that a few untimely errors deflated our sails and ultimately cost us that set," said fourth year head coach Joey Martins.  "We corrected the errors in the third set which led us to a win."

Third year middle blocker Nicole Schoonderwoerd (Tavistock) recorded a season-high six stuff blocks, while recording four kills.  Second year outside hitter Madison Morgan (Whitby) recorded a team high ten points and 16 digs, while first year setter Bailey Davis (Georgetown) recorded 27 assists and remains ranked first in the province in assists per set.

Coming off a first place finish in the Knights Tournament, the Niagara College men's volleyball (5-5, 6^th West) were looking to bring that momentum into their match against Humber (8-2, 2^nd West).  In a hard fought, back and forth battle, the Knights fell in four sets – 19-25, 25-27, 25-18, 22-25. 

Humber recorded 25 more points on attacks than Niagara, a deficit difficult to overcome.  Niagara had chances to sweep the regular season series but failed to consistently play their brand of volleyball.

"We played very well for pieces of this match," said head coach Nathan Groenveld.  "We just need to learn how to sustain our focus and enthusiasm for the duration of each set.  I thought we battled extremely well in every set for some pretty extended runs and we will look to build from that."

Third year outside hitter Nathan Snippe (St. Anns) had a team high 11 points, while former Guelph Gryphon Aaron Vanderlugt (Burlington) continued his dominance defensively recording four more stuff blocks. 

"Aaron was a blocking machine again for us and continued to be a leader for this group," said coach Groenveld.  "Cole Jordan was phenomenal for us tonight as well, making big contributions for this team."       

Up next for the Knights will be a road game against the Conestoga Condors on Sunday, January 11.  The women's program will play at 1:00pm and the men's program will follow at 3:00pm.