Saturday, February 21^st saw the Niagara College men's volleyball (12-6, 4^th West) program head out on the road to play in the OCAA crossover qualifying game.  The Knights were matched up against Trent University (11-7, 4^th East), where the winner advances to the provincial tournament.  Niagara won in four sets – 22-25, 25-22, 27-25, 25-11.

Winning a playoff game on the road is never an easy task, but the CCAA's 15^th ranked program demonstrated they were more than able to stay focused on the task at hand.

"We knew going in there were many factors against us; crowd and travel amongst them" said head coach Nathan Groenveld.  "We knew we would have to grind out a win and that is exactly what we did."

The Knights were led by third year opposite hitter Nathan Snippe (St. Anns).  Despite only playing in three sets, Snippe finished the match with a game-high 13 kills and two stuff blocks. 

"Snippe was a monster for us today," added coach Groenveld.  "Every one of this 13 kills were important attacks and helped give our side energy."    

First year outside hitter Cole Jordan (London) has burst onto the scene for Niagara and has really become integral to the team's success.    Jordan finished the match with eight kills and two stuff blocks.  His ten points helped extend his double-digit scoring streak to seven consecutive matches. 

"Cole has become our go to hitter and has continually hit at a very high efficiency for us," said coach Groenveld.

The Knights passing ability was once again on display in this match, as Niagara finished with 12 more assists than Trent.  Steve Stone (St. Catharines), the OCAA leader in assists-per-set, finished with a game-high 31 assists, while adding a career-high four service aces. 

Rounding out the stat sheet for the Knights was former Niagara College male rookie of the year winner Jeff Scott (Georgetown).  The third year outside hitter finished with nine points and added to his team lead in service aces (24), with two in the match.

By defeating Trent, the Knights now advance to the OCAA Championship hosted by St. Clair College from February 27 – March 1.  The Knights opening game opponent will be the Mohawk Mountaineers (17-1, 1^st West) on Friday, February 27^th, with game time scheduled for 1:30pm.

Last season, the Knights advanced to the bronze semi-final game but fell to the Fanshawe Falcons 3-1.

For more information regarding 2015 OCAA men's volleyball championship, please click here.