Thursday, December 3rd saw the Niagara College men's volleyball program wrap up 2015 in emphatic fashion with an impressive three set sweep over the visiting Redeemer Royals (6-3). The set scores in the match were 26-24, 25-21, 25-16.
The opening set of the match thrilled the large and boisterous crowd with a showcase of the high skill level that exists in the competitive OCAA West division. The two sides traded leads through 20 points, until the Royals seemed poised to win the set. The Knights called their second timeout, broke the Redeemer momentum and stole what seemed to be an opening set victory away from their Ancaster-based opponents. The Knights never looked back and cruised to the three set victory.
"Redeemer is a strong team that has beaten some of the strongest teams in the OCAA West" said Niagara College men's volleyball head coach Nathan Groenveld. "Tonight however, we made them play our style, and we showed how difficult that it is for other teams compete with us when we do."
The Knights were quarterbacked by fifth-year veteran setter Steve Stone. Playing against his former team, the St. Catharines native and former Eden High School Flyer led the Knights offense to the tune of a dominant 41 assist performance in just three sets of play. Stone currently sits second in the OCAA in assists-per-set with an average of 9.28.
"Steve was very good for us tonight" added Groenveld after the match. "He did a great job of putting our attackers in good positions to score."
Six-foot-eight outside hitter Nathan Snippe (St. Anns) paced the Knights' offensive attack finishing with 15 kills. Snippe ranks second in the OCAA West Division in points-per-set with a 4.0 average.
Versatile rookie Matt Freisen was his typical busy self, finishing with a match high 12 digs. Freisen is a native of Grunthal Manitoba, and has the ability to play both the outside hitter and libero positions for the OCAA's No. 3 ranked Knights.
The win sees the Knights wrap up the first half of their season on a high note. The team has won two straight matches against top OCAA West Division opponents. The 7-2 Knights will return to league play on January 14th at 8:00 when they host the Mohawk Mountaineers at 8:00pm at the Welland Athletic Centre.
