The Niagara College Women's Volleyball Program improved to 4-3 on the season after defeating the St. Clair College Saints (1-6) on Sunday night. The five-set marathon saw the Knights win the first set 25-17, before dropping the next two 19-25, 18-25, then rallying in the fourth and fifth sets to earn 25-16 and 15-9 victories.
Head Coach Joey Martins felt his team "came out playing great volleyball in the first set." The Knights' early offensive attack was led by third year outside hitter Lindsay Murray and second year middle blocker Nicole Schoonderwoerd.
Murray finished the game with 13 kills, three service aces, and nine digs, while Schoonderwoerd, a native of Tavistock, Ontario had her strongest game of the season, recording nine kills, 2 service aces, one stuff block, and eight digs.
Coach Martins felt that after the strong first set, his team "made the same mistake we made against Fanshawe, we let off the gas." The team struggled offensively in sets two and three as the Saints "poured it on" said Coach Martins.
Leading the way offensively for the Saints were outside hitter Alee Brecka and Helen Weibe with 11 and 10 kills respectively.
The Knights returned to the court in set four with a renewed sense of urgency. Leading the offensive charge for the Knights was first year outside hitter Amber Lundy. The five-foot-eight native of Welland, Ontario finished the match with three kills, one stuff block, 16 digs, and seven crucial service aces. The dominant performance earned Lundy the Niagara College Female Athlete of the Week honours.
With how well the Knights performed in sets one, three, and five, Coach Martins noted "we seem to have a tough time putting teams away. We need to keep our focus and finish games when we are winning."
Also recording a strong game for the Knights was third year libero Corrie Hill. The Black Creek, Ontario native and Event Management student was an anchor defensively for the team finishing the game with 22 digs.
Moving forward Coach Martins feels "all in all we got the win, and we are back above .500 which is where we want to be."
The Knights will finish the 2012 calendar year with a pair of road games against the (3-4) Redeemer Royals and (4-3) Mohawk Mountaineers.
The Knights' next home game is scheduled for Saturday, January 12th at 1:00pm when the team hosts the Sheridan Bruins.
