Ross and Snippe named athletes of the week

Female Athlete of the Week - Miranda Ross, Women’s Basketball

Miranda Ross (St. Catharines) of the Niagara Knights women’s basketball program (8-9, 5^th OCAA West) has been named this week’s female athlete of the week. Over the weekend the fifth-year Paramedic student became the Knights all-time leader in three-pointers made.

Despite a pair of losses for the Knights, Ross recorded five buckets from beyond three-point arc to record the 72^nd three-pointer of her career. Her total eclipses the previous mark of 69 that was set by former Knight Jessica James during her career with the Knights from 2005-10.

On Saturday Ross recorded five points in the team’s 66-48 loss to the St. Clair Saints (11-5, 4^th OCAA West). On Sunday, Ross hit four of her five weekend three-pointers, setting the career mark, as the Knights lost an overtime heartbreaker to the Lambton Lions (7-9, 7^th OCAA West) by a score of 63-59. In the loss Ross recorded 12 points on the strength of her effort beyond the arc, as well as adding five blocks and five rebounds.

Ross and the rest of the Knights will return to the Welland Campus Athletic Centre on Friday, February 19^th when they host the Humber Hawks (17-0, 1st OCAA West). It will be the final regular season home game for Ross in a Knights uniform.

The Niagara Knights are hosting the OCAA Women's Basketball Championship on March 3-5, 2016 at the Welland Campus Athletic Centre. Visit www.goknights.ca/ocaawbb for everything you need to know about the event.

Male Athlete of the Week – Nathan Snippe, Men’s Volleyball

Nathan Snippe (St. Anns) of the Niagara Knights men’s volleyball team (14-3, 2^nd OCAA West) has been named this week’s male athlete of the weekend. In his final home appearance in a Knights uniform, Snippe was simply dominant against the visiting Conestoga Condors (5-12, 8^th OCAA West).

After being honoured prior to the game as part of the Knights grad night celebration, Snippe used his hard hitting style to overpower the Condors throughout the match. Offensively he recorded a blistering 17 kills and four blocks for a 21 point total on the evening. Defensively he added nine digs.

With the 3-1 (25-26, 25-26, 23-25, 25-22) victory over Conestoga, the Knights clinched second place in the OCAA West division. With second place comes an automatic berth into the OCAA Championship, being hosted at Seneca College on February 25-27.

Niagara will now close out the regular season on February 16^th when they hit the road to take on the Sheridan Bruins (12-5, 4^th OCAA West).