Saturday, October 18^th saw the Niagara College women's volleyball program host the Niagara Knights Invitational.

First matchup for the Knights came against George Brown College, where they won 3-0 (26-24, 25-16, 25-22). Top scorers for Niagara were 2^nd year outside hitter Madison Morgan (Whitby, ON) with 14 points, 4^th year middle blocker Alexandria Botelho (Stoney Creek, ON) also with 14 points and 2^nd year outside hitter Sami Bailey (Cambridge, ON) with 12 points.

Game 2 saw the Knights take on Trent University, the same team that ended their season a year ago.  With retribution on their minds, the Knights won 3-1 (25-22, 21-25, 25-18, 25-18).  5^th year outside hitter Lucy McLay (Stratford, ON) stepped up in this match and demonstrated her leadership by example.  She finished with a team high 19 points.  3^rd year outside hitter Linnea Davis (Brampton, ON) contributed with 12 points, while 3^rd year middle blocker Nicole Schoonderwoerd (Tavistock, ON) chipped in with 11 points.

Day 2 would not be as easy for the Niagara College Knights.  Facing a solid Seneca Sting team, the Knights fell behind early and by large deficits.  Down 9 points in the first set and 12 points in the third set,  the Knights fought their way back to win 3-0 (25-23, 25-15, 25-21) and earn a trip to the finals.  Davis and McLay were top contributors once again.

The finals had Niagara matched against the perennial powerhouse Humber Hawks, a program that went 18-0 in 2013-14.  The experience on the Hawks side showed as they rallied from 6 down in the third set to win the championship 3-0 (21-25, 16-25, 26-28).

A second place finish for the Knights is a great way to head into the season and 4^th year head coach Joey Martins knows his squad is only going to improve. "This is a great learning point for this group of ladies," he said.  "The important thing is we got to see where we need to be and there are no major changes needed; just minor tweaks and consistency moving forward."

Lucy McLay and Linnea Davis were named Tournament All-Stars.

Up next for the Knights is the 2014-15 season opener on Sunday, October 26^th against the St. Clair Saints.