Jan. 16 Niagara College report: Volleyball and basketball
The Niagara College women’s basketball team made a successful return from the Christmas Break with a 60-43 victory last Saturday at Mohawk.
Niagara improved to 5-4 with the victory while Mohawk dropped to 2-7 with the loss. The Knights trailed 14-13 after one quarter before building second- and third-quarter leads of 31-21 and 45-23.
Top performers for Niagara were: Molly Taylor with 12 points and seven boards; Jamira Rousseau with 11 points; Janee Harrison with eight points and 12 rebounds; Eden Ferraro with eight points; Taryn Mitchell with seven points; and, Kate Roth with six points and 11 rebounds.
Former Holy Cross and Niagara College player Tia Stys recorded four points and 13 rebounds for Mohawk.
The Knights will host the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association championships March 3-5 and Mohawk will host the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association National Championship March 15-18.
Niagara hosts Redeemer (3-6) Wednesday at 8 p.m.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Niagara’s men’s basketball team returned to action with a 97-85 road loss at Mohawk last Saturday.
Mohawk pushed its record to 9-1 with the triumph while Niagara (5-5) fell back to .500 with the loss.
The Mountaineers built quarter leads of 24-19, 43-42 and 71-63 to record the victory.
Top statistical performers for Niagara were: Delroy Grandison with 23 points and six rebounds; Reggie Williams with 18 points; Ethan Alino-DelaCruz with 14 points; and, Kenneth Reckley with 11 points.
The Knights host Redeemer (3-8) Wednesday at 6 p.m. Niagara will be looking to snap a four-game losing skid.
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
Niagara’s women’s volleyball team split a pair of matches last week to sit at 7-4 in OCAA play.
The Knights lost 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 24-26 and 25-27) to Conestoga (11-0) and swept Redeemer (5-6) 3-0 (25-20, 25-18 and 25-14).
Top scorers against Conestoga were: Annastasia Droppert with 15 points; Natasha Desjardins with 11 points: Hope Nicholson with nine points; and Hannah Cowie with six points.
Top point-getters versus Redeemer were: Montanna Taylor with 11 points; Desjardins with 11 points; Droppert with nine points; and, Abbey Gooder with eight points.
Desjardins had nine kills against Redeemer to surpass 600 for her career. She has 604 and counting.
“Today was a great way to bounce back after Thursday,” Niagara head coach Tommy Sloan said after the win against Redeemer. “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.”
Niagara is at Sheridan (2-9) Thursday before hosting St. Clair (9-2) Sunday at 2 p.m.
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
Like their female counterparts, Niagara’s men’s volleyball team split a pair of games last week to sit at 7-4 in OCAA action.
The Knights lost 3-1 (18-25, 26-28, 25-22 and 20-25) to Conestoga (2-9) and recorded a 3-1 triumph against Redeemer (7-4)
Top scorers for Niagara against Conestoga were: Colin Prelaz with 17 points; Elijah Bugiardini with 15 points; Ashton Nieuwets with 10 points; and, Tyler Carmichael with nine points.
“I simply think we never could match Conestoga’s energy and fight,” Niagara head coach Steve Stone said. “They dug everything and made it very difficult to put a ball away.”
Leading the way for the Knights versus Redeemer were: Prelaz with 16 points; Nieuwets with 14 points; Micah Nieuwets with 10 points; and, Bugiardini with eight points.
“That was a great response from the boys,” Stone said. “We tightened up in every aspect of the game. We passed much better, defended at a high level and our focus and detail was brilliant.”
Niagara is at Sheridan (4-7) Thursday before hosting St. Clair (4-7) Sunday at 4 p.m.
