The Niagara College volleyball programs are getting set for a long road trip to Sudbury, where they will play two matches in two days. On January 31, the Knights will challenge the Cambrian Golden Shield and then face the Boreal Vipers on February 1 before heading back home.
The women's volleyball (10-3, 3rd West) program will begin the weekend by playing Cambrian (6-7, 6th West), with first serve scheduled for 6:00pm. The Knights head into the weekend only two points behind the Sheridan Bruins (11-4, 2nd West), for second place in the OCAA West.
Niagara hosted Cambrian earlier in the season, winning in straight sets 3-0. Lucy McLay (Stratford) and Nicole Schoonderwoerd (Tavistock) led the Knights with 16 and 14 points respectively. The last time Niagara lost to Cambrian was in the 2011-12 OCAA Championship game, 3-1. In her first season with the Knights then, Schoonderwoerd had a team high 14 points in the loss.
Following the women's game, the men's volleyball (8-5, 6th West) program will face Cambrian College (3-10, 8th West) at 8:00pm.
When these two teams last played, Niagara had to come from behind to win, 3-2. The Knights won the first set but lost sets two and three, forcing themselves to dig deep and rally from behind. Third-year outside hitter Ben Fillmore (Cayuga) scored a career-high 22 points to help lead the Knights to victory. His previous career-high was 14 points, a feat Ben set in a loss at Redeemer back on November 30, 2012.
Sunday will begin with the women's volleyball program playing Boreal (0-12, 10th West) at 1:00pm. Immediately following the game, the men's volleyball program will be facing off against Boreal (0-12, 10tt West) at 3:00pm.
Since Cambrian and Boreal joined the OCAA West in 2013-14, the Niagara College volleyball programs are a perfect 6-0, only losing three sets in that span. Look for the Knights to keep the streak alive as they continue to improve their games down the final stretch of the regular season.