The Niagara Knights women's volleyball program (11-5, 2nd OCAA West) earned a pair of weekend wins over the visiting Cambrian Golden Shield (8-8, 6th OCAA West) and Boreal Vipères (0-17, 10th OCAA West).
On Saturday evening the Knights defeated the Golden Shield from Cambrian by a score of 3-0 (25-26, 25-26, 27-25). It was the service game that propelled Niagara, as the Knights recorded 15 aces in the match. Their serves were able to keep the Golden Shield off balance, creating a number of free balls that led to excellent attacking opportunities for Niagara. This led to an extremely balanced attack for the Knights who overpowered Cambrian throughout the match. Rachel Rivers (Cambridge) returned to the lineup with a vengeance, recording a match-high 10 kills alongside three service aces and a block. Linnea Davis (Brampton) posted a blistering seven service aces in the victory.
A quick turnaround found the Knights hosting the Boreal Vipères on Sunday afternoon, where they earned a tidy 3-0 (25-10, 25-13, 25-15) victory over the visitors. All but two Knights recorded kills in the match, as Niagara was able to defeat the Vipères squad. Once again the service game was on point, as the Knights recorded 16 service aces to Boreal's three. Jordan Koslowski (Hamilton) led all hitters in the match with six kills, while Samantha Bailey recorded five kills and three service aces.
The passing presence of Bailey Davis (Cambridge) continued to be a factor the entire weekend for Niagara. She recorded 29 assists on Saturday against Cambrian. Davis followed up with another 13 on Sunday against Boreal in only two sets of action. She continues to be one of the OCAA's top setters, utilizing all of her attackers and keeping the opposing defence off balance game in and game out.
Head coach Ray Sarkis was extremely pleased with the effort that was put forth by the Knights. "We followed the game plan we prepared all week on both offence and defence," said Sarkis of the two matches.
The pair of wins moves the Knights into a second place tie in the OCAA West division with the Fanshawe Falcons (11-5, 2nd OCAA West). If the Knights can win both of the final matches, combined with a loss by Fanshawe, the Knights will earn an automatic bye to the OCAA Championships in North Bay.
Niagara will return to the court next Friday, February 12th when they welcome the Conestoga Condors (2-13, 9th OCAA West) to Welland. The Knights graduating players will be honoured in a pre-game ceremony prior to the match. Game time is set for 6:00 pm.
