February 17, 2020…WELLAND – The Niagara College women's volleyball team officially clinched fourth place in the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) West division after back-to-back home wins Feb 15th and 16th.
Saturday night the Knights hosted Cambrian College who had recorded just three wins all season.
In what should have been a quick couple of wins for the Knights and their 10-6 record, the Golden Shield came in and took the first two sets from Niagara (24-26,30-28), quickly quieting the home crowd.
Fortunately the blue and white found their footing and stormed back to take sets three and four easily (25-15, 25-17) to force a fifth set. The Knights put Cambrian away with a 15-5 set win to go on to a 3-2 victory.
Victoria Golebiowski, who had a season-high 26 points (17K, 6SA, 3,BS), led the Knights to their 11th win of the season.
"We came out flat. There's no nicer way to say it," said head coach Steve Dow. "To be down 8-0 to start a set is not acceptable. We need to start on time and play to higher standards. I was happy we tied it up at 16's but unforced errors allowed the set to slip away from us. It was the same story in the second. I will admit, it seemed like they figured it out in the third. We limited our errors, especially from the service line, and kept Cambrian off balance for the remainder of the match. Victoria Golebiowski, had her best game of the year for us (26 pts, 17K, 6 SA, 3 BS). We also had two very important service aces from first year DS Lexi Barclay, one which ended a set. We got the win and I am proud of us for that, but if we want to go on a long run in the playoffs, we need to be better at starting on time."
The Knights continued their momentum into their final game of the regular season on Sunday afternoon against the winless Boreal Vipers, where they easily handled the Vipers in a 3-0 (25-13, 25-17,25-22) sweep.
Sunday's finale also saw four players recognized for their dedication to the women's volleyball program at Niagara College as graduating athletes. Ainsleigh Williams, Veronika Latawiec, Marissa Steele and Taylor Morrison were honoured prior to their match with the Vipers.
"It is always a privilege to honour our graduating athletes. This year we will be losing 4 amazing young women. I was thrilled to have them all in the starting line up and they did not disappoint! We came out strong and played clean volleyball. We were led by third year transfer Kendra Adams, who had her first start of the year. Her 17 points (9K, .818 Eff., 4 SA & 4 BS) were the best point total of a middle for us all year. We played more consistent volleyball and are looking to carry that into our crossover match next weekend."
With the two wins, the Knights finished with a 12-6 record and fourth in the OCAA West Division. Niagara will now move on to host a cross-over championship qualifier game on Feb 22nd against the Georgian Grizzlies (11-7) who were fifth in the East Division.
