WINDSOR, Ont. - The Niagara Knights won the OCAA gold medal after defeating the St. Clair Saints 3-1 at the OCAA Men's Volleyball Championship Sunday evening at the SportsPlex. The Saints drew first blood by winning the first set by a score of 26-24. That set win, however, would be the only one for them in the match as Niagara won three straight set en route to the gold medal sweeping the next three 25-19, 25-17 and 26-24.

"We needed to have a team effort and we had veterans coming off the bench and helping out the younger players," said Niagara coach Nathan Groenveld. "We knew we had to weather the storm and we did that well."

"We broke down late in each set loss but I'm proud of the way our guys played all weekend," said St. Clair coach Robert Lynch. "This season we've gone through adversity with injuries and we battled through everything."

Fourth-year setter Steve Stone (St. Catharines, Ont.) took home tournament MVP honours and was Niagara's player of the game with 42 assists and six digs in the Knights gold medal victory.  Third-year outside hitter Jeff Scott (Georgetown, Ont.) contributed to the win with 15 Kills, 11 digs and a service ace. Fifth-year middle hitter Peter Christian (Chatham, Ont.) was the Saints player of the game contributing eight kills, one stuffed block and a service ace in the silver medal effort.

St. Clair started the tournament by defeating Durham 3-1 Friday evening advancing to the semi-finals defeating Humber 3-1 Saturday evening. Despite the loss, the silver is St. Clair's first-ever OCAA medal in its history.

Niagara kicked off the tournament with an upset victory against Mohawk 3-2 Friday afternoon. The Knights continued the winning trend when they won against Fanshawe in the semi-finals Saturday evening 3-1. This is Niagara's fourth gold medal win in its history with its last one in 2004.

The tournament all-stars were Mohawk's Charlie Hancock (North Bay, Ont.) and Eric Danecke (Kitchener, Ont.); Niagara's Bailey Cochrane (Barrie, Ont.) and Scott; and St. Clair's Jason Hernandez (Harrow, Ont.) and Josh Rankin (Windsor, Ont.).

Both St. Clair and Niagara will participate in the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Men's Volleyball National Championship in Charlottetown from March 12-14.

The Mohawk College Mountaineers captured an OCAA bronze medal after defeating the Fanshawe College Falcons 3-1 on Sunday afternoon at the SportsPlex. The Falcons took the first set 25-22 but Mohawk responded and took control of the match by winning the next two sets 25-23 and 25-17. The Mountaineers sealed the deal for the bronze medal after winning the fourth set 25-20. Mohawk also won both games with Fanshawe in the regular season with scores of 3-2 on Oct. 25 and 3-1 on Jan. 31.

"It's always exciting to get a medal even though it's not the colour we wanted. But, I have to give my guys credit for staying resilient after losing the first game," said Mohawk coach Matthew Schnarr. "The biggest strategy for us was playing as a team and we played together."

Second-year left side hitter Steven Falk (St. Catharines, Ont.) was the Mountaineers player of the game with nine digs and four stuff blocks. Second-year outside hitter Charlie Hancock (North Bay, Ont.) added 10 digs, two stuff blocks and a service ace in the Mohawk victory. Fifth-year outside hitter Demetri Kantzos (London, Ont.) chipped in three digs, a stuffed block and a service ace in the Falcons loss.

Fanshawe started the tournament by sweeping Fleming 3-0 on Friday afternoon. The Falcons advanced to the semi-finals to face Niagara but fell short losing 3-1 on Saturday afternoon. In the bronze medal qualifier Sunday afternoon they swept Humber 3-0.

Mohawk kicked off the tournament with an upset loss to the Niagara College Knights 3-2 Friday afternoon. The Mountaineers bounced back Saturday afternoon with a win against Fleming 3-1. On Sunday afternoon they battled Humber in the bronze medal qualifier sweeping the match by a score of 3-0.

Championship Website: www.saintsathletics.ca/leagues/custom_page.cfm?clientID=335&leagueID=24690&pageID=16488

Friday, February 27
Quarter-Finals
Game 1 - Niagara 3, Mohawk 2 - Recap
Game 2 - Fanshawe 3, Fleming 0 - Recap
Game 3 - Humber 3, Sheridan 0 - Recap
Game 4 - St. Clair 3, Durham 1 - Recap

Saturday, February 28
Bronze Quarter-Finals
Game 5 - Mohawk 3, Fleming 1 - Recap
Game 6 - Sheridan 3, Durham 2 - Recap
Semi-Finals
Game 7 - Niagara 3, Fanshawe 1 - Recap
Game 8 - St. Clair 3, Humber 1 - Recap

Sunday, March 1
Bronze Semi-Finals
Game 9 - Fanshawe 3, Sheridan 0
Game 10 - Mohawk 3, Humber 0
Bronze Medal Match
Game 11 - Mohawk 3, Fanshawe 1 - Recap
Gold Medal Match
Game 12 - Niagara 3, St. Clair 1 - Recap

Source: St. Clair College

- OCAA -

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