October 31st, 2019 ....WELLAND - The Niagara College Knights men's volleyball team dropped a 3-1 (27-25, 21-25, 20-25, 34-32) decision to the Humber Hawks in Etobicoke last night. The match-up was the third occasion this season these teams have met, after playing the Hawks in the Durham Lords Adidas Cup twice-including the championship match. Both games were a 3-0 decision in favour of Humber.
The Knights were led in kills by first-year outside hitter, Owen Pols (1st year, Wainfleet) with 13. Elijah Bugiardini (3rd year, Hamilton) led with 10 digs.
Despite the loss, head coach Tommy Sloan was impressed by his team's play.
"I thought that was by far our best game of the season to date including preseason," said Sloan. "We executed our offensive plan incredibly well and contained their spin servers for the most part. Humber is a tough match up size wise for us but I thought we took advantage of our opportunities and played with confidence. The only difference in the game is that they were able to get a little more out of their service game and got a few more opportunities to swing than we did. We managed to hit .350 against the biggest team in the league so it's hard to feel disappointed about the loss and I think if we bring the same level of execution and focus to all of our games this season, we will be a very difficult team to beat."
Next up for the Knights is their home opener against Conestoga Saturday at 3:00 P.M. - a welcome change from starting the regular season on the road.
Saturday afternoon's home opener will also play host to the College's alumni event, that will welcome back former Knights for ReuKnighted, the first alumni reunion of its kind at Niagara College.