January 11, 2025
WELLAND, ON: The Niagara Knights women's volleyball team (8-4) hosted the Mohawk Mountaineers (8-5) in a Saturday afternoon matchup that saw the Knights jump to 3rd place in the OCAA West. The Knights won the game 3-1 with set scores of 25-21, 25-13, 22-25 and 26-24.
The new year brought the Knights a renewed sense of focus as they were able to showcase their talent and determination. A hard-fought 1st set win for the Knights saw them cruise to an early 2-0 lead in the match, after taking a decisive 25-13 win in the 2nd set. The 3rd set saw the Mountaineers take the game as they tried to fight their way back into the match and led to a back-and-forth 4th set. Ultimately, the Knights took the set and the match in the 4th, winning 26-24. Natalie Little and Abbey Gooder combined for 30 points on 16 kills, 4 assists, 4 service aces, 26 digs and 10 blocks. 2nd year middles, Tess Kelly and Sam Cormier, also put up big numbers with a combined 22 points on 11 kills, 1 assist, 1 service ace, 4 digs and 10 blocks. Montanna Taylor was also back to her usual ways, leading the Knights to victory and contributing 23 assists, 13 points on 6 kills with 7 blocks and a team leading 19 digs.
"The team played well today and executed the game plan," Steve Stone, head coach of the Knights began to explain. "They have been putting in the work over the holiday break and it truly showed in today's game. It's exciting to be back and we're looking forward to finishing the 2nd half of the season off strong." Tia Kelly, a 2nd year setter, commented on the teams performance by saying "I'm proud of how my teammates were able to stay composed and execute our game plan after falling short in the 3rd set and coming out into the 4th set, closing out the Mountaineers and taking the 3-1 victory."
The Knights will enjoy this win tonight but will have to prepare for a quick turnaround as they get set to travel Wednesday, January 15th to take on the Humber Hawks (13-0). Later this week, the Knights will be back in action at home where we will see them take on the Sheridan Bruins (1-12) at the Simplii Financial Athletic Centre at the Welland Campus. The game is set to start at 1:00pm on Saturday, January 18th.
For more information on the Knights teams, please visit us at www.goknights.ca.