NIAGARA 3, MOHAWK 2

WELLAND, Ont. - The Niagara College women's volleyball program improved to 3-2 on the season after defeating the visiting Mohawk Mountaineers on Sunday, Nov. 10 in a thrilling five-set match at the Welland Campus Athletic Centre. The set scores for the contest were 19-25, 25-19, 25-13, 17-25, 18-16.

After the match Niagara College women's volleyball head coach Joey Martins commented, "Today we showed flashed of great play. But most importantly we saw great fight from the whole team. We played hard for each other, kept the effort level high, and maintained that never quit attitude."

The Knights opened the match slowly losing the first set convincingly. The team, riding the strong play of veteran middle blocker and team captain Alex Bothleho, rebounded in the second set and third sets. The 6-foot-0 native of Stoney Creek, Ont., finished the match with six kills, three blocks, and two service aces.

The third set saw the breakout performance of first-year outside hitter Maddi Morgan. The 5-foot-9 native of Whitby, Ont., served 10 consecutive points including nine aces. The dominant service game of Morgan allowed the Knights to cruise to a victory in the set. Morgan finished the match with nine aces, four kills, four blocks, and 18 digs.

After dropping the fourth set, and opening the fifth set poorly, the Mountaineers appeared to have the match in hand leading 13-11. The Knights battled back receiving two key blocks from Botelho and a pair of timely service aces from rookie middle blocker Amy Page.

Page, a local Welland, Ont., native and graduate of Centennial High School served the team's final three points in the match

Coach Martins continued, "Everyone played well today. All eight players that saw the court contributed to tonight's victory."

The win moves the Knights to 3-2 on the season and into fourth place in the competitive OCAA West Division. The Knights will face the Sheridan Bruins on Thursday, Nov. 14 at the Welland Campus Athletic Centre.

Heading into one of the most important stretches of the season Coach Martins emphasized the importance of "focusing on Sheridan this week and playing the season one match at a time."

First-serve for Thursday's matchup is set for 6 p.m. and admission is free for all Niagara College students.

Source: Niagara College

WELLAND, Ont. - The Niagara Knights made it five straight wins in OCAA men's volleyball, defeating the Mohawk Mountaineers 25-17, 25-21, 23-25, 25-21, in Welland on Sunday (Nov. 10).

Marcin Jedrzejewski led the Mountaineers with 13 kills, one stuff block and 14 digs. Bryce Marcussen had 11 kills and three blocks.

"We played well despite four injuries to key players on our team," said Mohawk head coach Matthew Schnarr. "We had a chance in every set to win after 18, but are struggling to find a finisher on our group. We need to keep pushing forward to keep healthy and continue to look for 'Ws' in the West Division."

With the loss, the Mountaineers record dropped to 1-3.

The Mohawk women lost a five-setter to Niagara. The scores were 19-25, 25-19, 25-13, 17-25, 18-16 for the Knights.

Chi Chi Chuks-Mady had six kills, two service aces and 13 digs, while Kristin VanHartingsveldt had 13 digs, two stuff blocks and two aces for the Mountaineers, whose record evened up at 2-2, while Niagara improved to 3-2.

"Our inconsistent serving, serve receive and handling of free balls gave the match to Niagara," said Mohawk head coach Andrew Nicholson. "They were playing with an injury riddled line-up and we pretty well gifted them the match unfortunately. We'll need to be much better on Friday against Fanshawe."

Source: Mohawk College