January 16, 2023...WELLAND - The Niagara College Knights women's volleyball team went 1-1 in their home matches against Conestoga Thursday night and Redeemer on Saturday afternoon.
Thursday night's loss saw the Knights take set one 25-23 before falling to the Condors in three straight (23-25, 24-26, 25-27). Conestoga currently sits second in the OCAA West standings behind the undefeated Humber Hawks.
Saturday saw the Knights bounce back in a big way with a 3-0 sweep of the Redeemer Royals (25-20,25-18,25-14).
Leading the Niagara offense was fifth-year veteran, Natasha Desjardins who recorded nine kills and eight digs and surpassed 600 career kills (604) in the match. The Welland native has spent all five years of eligibility with the blue and white, with this season marking the end of her OCAA career. Desjardins has racked up many milestones spanning over her five years in a Knights uniform, with more likely to be added at the conclusion of the 2022-2023 season.
In the match the Knights hit .269 finishing with 29 kills and 11 errors on 67 attempts.
"Today was a great way to bounce back after Thursday" said head coach Tommy Sloan. "Although we still missed a high number of serves, we were able to put together longer runs before missing, and that serving pressure really set up other aspects of our game. It was nice to see our hitting percentage improve and our energy throughout the game was fantastic."
The Knights will now hit the road for a match against the Sheridan Bruins (2-9) on Thursday night at 6:00pm.
