Niagara College Women's Volleyball Program Head Coach Joey Martins is the first to admit that his team "did not perform to our own satisfaction in the first semester." As a result, the annual Adidas Cup held January 4-5 at Durham College served as an ideal tune-up for the Knights heading into the second half of the season.
The Knights played a total of five games in the event finishing with a record of two wins, three losses, and a draw, a record that Coach Martins feels does not represent how well his team played.
"We used this tournament to see how some of our recent changes looked heading into the final stages of the season." Coach Martins continued, "we knew that there would be some timing issues having players playing in different positions, but the girls fared very well."
The Knights opened the tournament with a 1-1 draw with Fleming College, before taking to the court against perennial powerhouse Humber.
In the Humber match, Coach Martins felt his team played well in the early parts of both sets, but "a few errors ended up costing us and the Hawks really got on a roll." The Hawks are currently undefeated in OCAA play, and defeated the Knights 2-0.
The Knights played the Georgian Grizzlies in their third matchup, and after dropping a 23-25 first set, took the opportunity to give on-court experience to some of the team's younger players. The Knights eventually lost the match 2-0.
The Knights then faced the St.Clair Saints in the "C" flight quarterfinal, and defeated the Saints 2-1.
The highlight of the tournament in Coach Martins' eyes came in the team's semi-final matchup against the Mohawk Mountaineers.
The 5-4 Mountaineers defeated Niagara in the team's final regular season game prior to the holiday break, and currently sit just ahead of the Knights in the OCAA West Division standings.
Coach Martins felt his team played some of their most inspired volleyball of the season, en route to a dominant 3-1 victory.
The Knights ended the event with a 2-0 loss against Loyalist.
Coach Martins' felt he saw "some great things from the team in the tournament. I feel very optimistic about the second half of the season."
The Knights resume regular season play on Wednesday January 9th when the team visits the Conestoga Condors. Niagara returns to the Welland Campus Athletic Centre on Saturday, January 12th at 1:00 pm when the team hosts the 4-5 Sheridan Bruins.
All Niagara College Varsity Athletics feature free admission, and for those unable to be in attendance are live broadcasted and archived at www.sportslive.ca.
