February 14, 2022... WELLAND - The Niagara College men's volleyball team opened their 2022 season with one win and one loss in their double header weekend at home.
With no spectators permitted until at least February 21st, the Knights hosted the Boreal Vipers on Friday night at the Welland Campus Centre where this year's home opener looked far different than previous years.
The blue and white looked sharp in their opening set, downing the Vipers 25-13. The Knights would keep the momentum going through sets two and three, eventually sweeping the visiting Vipers 3-0 (25-13, 25-15, 25-14) to capture their first win of 2022.
Despite the win, the Knights suffered the loss of setter Carter Thurman prior to the game, and were forced to mix things up in their line-up.
"Considering the lineup changes that we were forced to make, I thought the team adjusted well,"said head coach Tommy Sloan.
"We were steady on defense and maintained our aggressiveness in our attack. We served the ball very well and that allowed us to pull away in the 2nd half of each set. It was a positive start to what should be a very unique and challenging season."
Saturday's tilt with Cambrian didn't go as well for the blue and white. The Golden Shield were looking for their first win after a 3-0 loss to the Redeemer Royals Friday night.
The Knights and Golden Shield played to three very close matches, but it was the Golden Shield who prevailed with the 3-0 sweep of the Knights (22-25, 21-25, 20-25).
"It was definitely a disappointing follow up to our win the night before, said Sloan.
"Cambrian are a big and athletic team that challenged our depth and ability to adjust. We had some good ideas, found some success in our blocking game and at moments offensively. However, unfortunately we didn't bring the level of intensity required to perform at the level needed which allowed Cambrian to go on several lengthy runs. This is going to be a challenging year with many tough opponents, and we understand that we need to maintain our level of compete and focus throughout a match in order to have success."
The Knights will look ahead to another tough match-up against their Hamilton rival, Mohawk College (2-0) on Thursday night at home before heading out on their first road game to face Conestoga College.
