Jan. 29 Niagara College Sports Report
The Niagara College Knights women’s volleyball team (10-6) had a perfect week in Ontario Colleges Athletic Association play recording a 3-1 victory (25-12, 22-25, 25-23 and 25-14) over the Redeemer Royals (8-8) and a 3-1 triumph (25-12, 18-25, 25-17 and 25-13) over the Fanshawe Falcons (3-13).
Playing well for Niagara against Redeemer were: Kyleigh Baxter with nine kills, 12 digs, two service aces and an assist; Montanna Taylor with nine assists, 12 digs, three kills and three blocks; and, Sophia Matias, Emmah Gmoser and Sam Cormier with four kills apiece.
Leading the way against Fanshawe were: Gmoser with 13 kills, eight digs, six service aces and two assists; Kyleigh Baxter with 12 kills, 10 digs, one service ace and an assist; and, Taylor with 28 assists, nine digs, seven kills and three service aces.
“Ladies came in dialled in and ready to execute the game plan. Despite dropping a set, they felt in control the whole game,” Niagara head coach Steve Stone said of the Fanshawe game. “They’re playing with some confidence, fire and focus. Defensively, the girls look awesome and offensively it’s starting to look really nice.”
Niagara concludes regular season play this week with a Wednesday road game at Mohawk (9-7) and a Saturday 1 p.m. home tilt versus Sheridan (4-12).
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
Niagara’s men’s volleyball squad (9-7) split a pair of games, with a 3-1 victory (25-11, 26-24, 25-27 and 25-19) over the Redeemer Royals (4-12) and a 3-1 loss (21-25, 25-17, 17-25 and 18-25) to the Fanshawe Falcons (11-5).
Performing well for Niagara against Redeemer were: Carter Thurman with 32 assists, 10 digs and two blocks; Ashton Nieuwets with 12 kills, 15 digs and a service ace; and, Mitch Churipuy with 13 digs and an assist.
Topping the stat sheet versus Fanshawe were: Thurman with 26 assists, 10 digs and a block; Matthew Takacs with 10 kills, three digs, a block and a service ace; and, Nieuwets with 11 kills, five digs, three assists and two service aces.
Stone described the Fanshawe loss as a tough one.
“Fanshawe is a well-coached team and they execute really well. We handed them too many freebies and made our defence work harder than it had to. I have no doubt we’ll regroup and learn and come ready to compete in the next one.”
Thurman, who surpassed 1,000 career assists in the game against Fanshawe, was named Niagara College’s Male Athlete of the Week.
Niagara concludes regular season play this week with a Wednesday road game at Mohawk (7-9) and a Saturday 3 p.m. home tilt versus Sheridan (2-13).
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Niagara women’s basketball team pushed its OCAA record to 10-3 with a 60-55 victory over Mohawk (9-4).
“Always good to go on the road and win. Mohawk is a good team and that was a big game for us. I don’t think we played our best but we were tough enough to play very well down the stretch,” Niagara head coach Chris Rao said. “We held Mohawk to two points in the last five minutes, which was an effort to be proud of. Janee Harrison and Molly Taylor really lead the way on both ends.”
Top performers for Niagara were: Harrison with 17 points, seven rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks; Taylor with 16 points, six rebounds, two blocks and a steal; and, Destiny Osadebamwen with nine points, four rebounds and an assist.
For her performance, Taylor was named Niagara College’s Female Athlete of the Week.
The Knights are at Lambton (11-2) Saturday and St. Clair (11-2) Sunday.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Niagara’s men’s hoopsters (10-5) had a .500 week in OCAA play, falling 86-83 to the Mohawk Mountaineers (10-5) and recording a 79-70 triumph over the Canadore Panthers (3-12).
Playing well for the Knights against Mohawk were: Simon Ricketts-Ewan with 17 points, six rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block; Ethan Alino-DelaCruz with 17 points, seven rebounds, two steals and an assist; and, Kenneth Reckley Jr. with 12 points, eight rebounds, two steals and a block.
“A tough loss in Hamilton against a team we are battling with in the standings. A solid game and our guys showed great resilience to stay close and have a chance to win with the last possession,” Niagara head coach Phil Mosley said. “Proud of our guys effort and ability to respond in a hostile and intense game.”
Leading the way against Canadore were: Reggie Williams with 19 points, 10 rebounds and two assists; Raheem Dennis with 15 points, five rebounds and three steals; and, Reckley Jr., Mark Taylor and Alino-DelaCruz with 10 points each.
“We had to battle through a poor shooting performance and some complacency to seal this win. Canadore gave us all we could handle, but in the end we stayed together and strong and finished with a victory,” Mosley said. “Kadin Moore and Theo Tarlotin played great off the bench and helped us finish the weekend with a win.”
The Knights are at Lambton (6-8) Saturday and St. Clair (11-3) Sunday.
