November 25, 2023
The Niagara Knights hosted the Mohawk Mountaineers at the Simplii Financial Athletic Centre at the Welland Campus and went on to win 3-1 (Set scores were 25-23, 22-25, 25-21 and 25-20). This win catapults the men's team into first place in the OCAA West Division, with a record of 7-2.
Head Coach Steve Stone shared his praises for multiple players when asked about who stood out to him in today's win; "Eli (Elijah Bugiardini) was super-efficient on the right side, I think he was around 34% efficiency, which is really really good. He had 4 blocks… Had a really good game…I thought he (Micah Nieuwets) led well out there, he had some big kills, he passed really well and served tough. As a whole he rallied our team together, which I thought was massive for us."
Niagara's star player Elijah Bugiardini, the Hamilton native, had 11 kills, a service ace, 4 blocks and 10 digs. Most of Elijah's kills came on assists by setter Carter Thurman, who had a stellar performance with 40 assists, 13 digs, a block, and a kill.
Brothers Micah Nieuwets and Ashton Nieuwets, who are both St. Catharines natives and attended volleyball powerhouse Eden Highschool, both had amazing games today. With Micah having 13 kills, an assist, and 14 digs, while Ashton contributed with 12 kills, 2 blocks and 10 digs.
The Knights will travel to Humber College this Thursday, November 30 to take on the 5-4 Hawks in their final road game before the winter break.
