Sunday, February 15th saw the Niagara College wrap up their 2014-15 regular season with a dramatic come-from behind five set victory over the visiting St. Clair Saints. The set scores in the marathon match were 21-25, 22-25, 25-20, 29-27, 15-10.
The win sees the Knights finish at 12-6 on the season, and in a three way tie for third-place in the highly competitive OCAA West Division.
"What a finish to our regular season! Being down 2-0 and coming back to win in five is a testament to the character that has developed in this group over the season" said Niagara College men's volleyball head coach Nathan Groenveld. "I am very proud of how we battled through some rough play in the first two sets and never gave up. Winning the fourth 29-27 to send it to a fifth set was a great experience for our guys, and something we will draw on in our playoff run."
Offensively the Knights were paced by rookie outside hitter Cole Jordan. The six-foot-four native of London got the lion's share of the Knights offensive attacks, finishing with a season high 23 kills on 46 attempts.
Coach Groenveld continued "Cole Jordan was a monster for us today! He took a huge number of swings and put a lot of points on the board."
Second-year libero Bailey Cochrane (Barrie) turned in his second consecutive defensive clinic, finishing with 29 of his team's 45 digs. The sales and marketing student finished the 2014-15 season leading the OCAA in digs with 232. Cochrane was named an OCAA first-team all-star and CCAA Academic All-Canadian in 2013-14.
The biggest difference in the match proved to be the net defense of the Knights. The two teams had virtually identical stat lines in all categories with the exception of stuff blocks. The Knights finished with 17 compared to the Saints' five.
Six-foot-seven middle blocker Aaron Vanderlugt (Burlington) led the way for Niagara finishing with seven blocks. Vanderlugt also finished with nine kills and an ace, for a season high total of 17 points.
Brantford's Logan Varga, played some of his strongest volleyball of the season, finishing with six blocks, two kills, and an ace, while Brett Polfuss (Kitchener) notched nine kills, five digs, two aces, and a block.
The win sees the Knights finish in a three way tie for third in the OCAA West Division. An announcement regarding the final OCAA men's volleyball playoff seeding will be made on Tuesday, February 17th when all tie-breaking procedures have been finalized by the OCAA head office.
For up-to-date playoff information please visit www.goknights.ca.
