November 24, 2024
Welland, ON: The Niagara Knights men's volleyball team (6-4) split their weekend matchups as they hosted the Cambrian Golden Shield (4-4) and the Boreal Vipers (0-8) on back-to-back days. The Knights suffered an unexpected 3-1 loss to Cambrian (set scores were 25-14, 18-25, 15-25 and 20-25) Saturday afternoon before defeating Boreal on Sunday in a 3-0 sweep (set scores were 25-13, 25-10 and 25-18).
The Knights came out flying and won the first set of Saturdays matchup against the Golden Shield by a decisive number. Sadly, the momentum took a huge swing seeing the rest of the match not going in the Knights' favour as Cambrian took the next 3 sets. Wizdom Smith, the 1st year player from Winnipeg, MB, and Mitch Churipuy, hailing from Peterborough, ON, led the way for the Knights – combining for 24 points, 21 kills, 11 digs, 3 assists, 2 blocks and 1 service ace. Noah Trembly, the Hamilton, ON native in his 1st year with the Knights, kept tons of plays alive and provided some extended rallies with his 9 digs.
A new day provided the Knights with a new attitude as they got set to take on the Boreal Vipers in an afternoon affair on Sunday. This new attitude brought out the determination and intensity factors they were missing the day before – seeing them finish the match in an hour. Leiland Parenteau, the 1st year setter from Winnipeg, MB, took control of the game from the get-go by contributing 21 assists, 2 points and 2 digs. The biggest recipient from Parenteau was 2nd year outside hitter, Matthew Takacs, who had 10 points on 10 kills, finishing with a 42.1 kill percentage. Despite the big win, the largest roar from the crowd happened when Britton Burrows, the Eden High School product, substituted into the game – seeing him finish with 9 assists and 1 service ace.
Dwelling on the Cambrian game, head coach Steve Stone was nearly speechless as he expressed that he was "not really sure what happened – the boys came out and executed flawlessly in the first set but it seemed Cambrian then woke up and we weren't ready for that response. We never really could get our footing back and find another level that we needed to get us back into the game." Moving onto the next match against the Vipers, it was a much different tune that Stone was preaching. "It's nice to see contributions evenly throughout the boys on this one." He continued to mention that "they came ready to play and kept it simple and consistent. Big shout out to Britton Burrows who came in and ran a very efficient offense and served tough."
The Knights get set to wrap up the first half of the season as they travel to London on Wednesday, November 27th to battle the Fanshawe Falcons (6-3) at 8:00pm. After this match, the Knights will enjoy the Christmas break before getting back into action in the new year, when they welcome the Mohawk Mountaineers (4-5) to the Simplii Financial Athletic Centre on Saturday, January 11th, 2025 at 3:00pm.
