November 25, 2019.... WELLAND - The Niagara College Knights men's volleyball team's winning streak came to and end Friday night in Ancaster with a 3-1 (17-25, 21-25, 25-17, 21-25) loss to Redeemer Royals. The Knights last loss dates back to October 30th, when they fell 3-1 to the first place west division Humber Hawks. 

The Royals have also been on a hot streak as of late, winning four straight before meeting Niagara to make it a fifth straight win to advance to 6-1 and sit in second place in the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) West Division.

The Knights dug themselves in a hole early, dropping the first and second set to the Royals 17-25 and 21-25 before coming back in the third for a 25-17 win. The Royals put the Knights away in the fourth to seal up the win and keep their winning streak alive.

"We started slow once again and it finally cost us," said head coach Tommy Sloan. "We didn't play overly poorly but Redeemer is a solid squad especially at home and you can't afford to make it even easier on them.We started to show some progress in the 3rd and 4th sets but once we were down 2-0 it was always going to be difficult to come back. I thought we had a great match from both our middles and that is something to build on. In the end, (Brayden) Stoffers was brilliant for them and we just didn't have anyone able to match that."

Knights kills leader, Elijah Bugiardini (3rd year, Hamilton) led Niagara with 12 kills, followed by Colin Prelaz (1st year, London) with 9, Ashton Fehr (3rd year, Leamington) with 8 and Samuel Otten (5th year, Toronto) with 7 kills and 10 digs. Robbie Zalewski (3rd year, Ingersoll) led in assists with 36.

The Knights will look ahead to their final two games before breaking for Christmas when they host Fanshawe (4-4) Saturday at 3:00 P.M. and St. Clair (3-4) Sunday at 4:00 P.M.