The Niagara Knights women's volleyball team (13-5, 2nd OCAA West) advanced to the OCAA gold medal match with a 3-1 (25-21, 25-27, 25-21, 27-25) victory over the Durham Lords (19-1, 1st OCAA East) on Friday evening.
Rachel Rivers (Cambridge), an OCAA first-team all-star, was named player of the game for the Knights in the win over the Lords. Rivers recorded eight kills and five services aces for the Knights. Jasmine Thome (Kenora), who won player of the games honours in the quarter-final, was dominant once again. Thome contributed a blistering 15 kills and added a stuffed block for 16 points in the semi-final win.
The victory moves the Knights into the championship match for the first time since 2003. The Knights have guaranteed improvement upon their bronze medal performance from a year ago. Niagara will meet the winner of the Humber Hawks (18-0, 1st OCAA West) and Fanshawe Falcons (12-6, 3rd OCAA West). The Hawks are the five-time defending OCAA gold medalists.
The Knights will take on the Humber Hawks (18-0, 1st OCAA West) who are seeking their ninth straight OCAA gold medal. If not gold, Humber has won at least a bronze every year since 2003, the same year the Knights won silver.
Tomorrow's gold medal match will take place at 4:00 pm. The match will be streamed live at www.canadoretv.com.
