A five game losing streak to open the second half of the season appeared to give the Niagara College women's volleyball program little hope of qualifying for the 2013-14 OCAA post-season. A trio of wins to close out the regular season however has the Knights temporarily in sixth place in the OCAA West Division.
Saturday, February 8th saw the Knights defeat the Boreal Vipers three sets to none, while Sunday, February 9th saw the team finish the regular season with an impressive 3-1 victory over the Cambria Golden Shield.
The Knights finish the 2013-14 campaign with a record of eight wins and 10 losses. The Mohawk Mountaineers currently sit in seventh place in the OCAA West, with one game remaining against the undefeated and CCAA top ranked Humber Hawks.
A Humber victory over the Mountaineers will see the Knights qualify for the post-season for the first time since the 2011-12 season. A victory by Mohawk however will see the Hamilton side advance to the post-season via a tie-break format.
Heading into the weekend matches, Niagara College women's volleyball head coach Joey Martins said the objective was the to "play clean, and limit any unforced errors."
The Saturday afternoon match saw the Knights accomplish just that, as the team rolled to a 25-11, 25-15, 25-20 victory.
The entire Knights roster saw action in the contest and leading the way offensively was first year outside hitter Madison Morgan (Whitby). Morgan finished with a game high 10 kills, five aces, and 15 digs.
Sunday saw the Knights turn in one of their strongest performances of the season, defeating the Golden Shield 25-15, 25-18, 28-30, 25-20.
Throughout the match the Knights were anchored by veteran middle blocker Alexandria Botelho. The six-foot native of Stoney Creek was unstoppable in all facets of the game finishing with a game high 19 points on 14 kills, three blocks, and a service ace.
After Sunday's victory Coach Martins commented "although tonight wasn't necessarily our best performance of the season, to play like we did tonight with the stakes as high as they were, shows what our team is really made of."
The Knights will now wait for the outcome of the February 12th matchup between Humber and Mohawk. A Hawks victory will see the Knights qualify for the OCAA post-season and more specifically a road crossover playoff match versus the OCAA East Division's third seed.
