November 18th, 2023
Welland, On. - After going down 2-0, the Niagara College Knights men's volleyball program threw everything they had at the 3rd ranked St. Clair Saints, but ultimately fell just short, dropping the 5th set for a 3-2 loss Saturday afternoon at the Simplii Financial Athletic Centre (Set scores were 23-25, 18-25, 25-15, 25-21 and 13-15). The Knights found themselves up 8-7 when the teams switched ends halfway through the 5th set but in the end the Saints prevailed in the final frame 15-13. The heartbreaking loss saw the Knights record fall to 5-2 while St. Claire's record improved to 5-2.
"I think honestly we got some great fighters on the team", said Knights head coach Steve Stone. "To go down 2-0 and comeback to give ourselves a chance says a lot about our team", said Stone after the game. "I'm really happy about the compete level on this team. I mean we got to make sure we don't come out and put ourselves in that hole right out of the gate, but these guys are fighters and I'm happy to go to battle with these boys every single game".
The comeback was spurred by an all-around team effort from the Knights which led to several standout performances. 3rd year outside hitter Ashton Nieuwets had a sensational performance and was dominant, both offensively and defensively, leading the Knights in both kills and digs with 11 each. However, perhaps no one was more pivotal to the comeback attempt than the 3rd year Setter, Carter Thurman. The Balgonie, Saskatchewan product literally set the stage for the Knights comeback attempt with a massive 35 assists, providing all but 8 of the Knights team total 43 assists on the afternoon.
When asked about the impressive play of his Setter, Steve Stone had no shortage of positive things to say. "Carter is a competitor. He pushes the guys to be better every single point. That's why he's one of our leaders, one of our captains and why he runs the ship for us. I'll never run out of good things to say about him."
The Knights will look to continue the strong play they demonstrated in the final three sets when they go on the road November 22nd for a Wednesday night matchup against the 3-5 Redeemer Royals. The Knights will be back at home next weekend for another Saturday afternoon matchup, this time at 3:00 pm, against the 4-4 Mohawk Mountaineers.
