Niagara College roundup Feb. 4
Jordan Koslowski of the women’s volleyball program has been named the Niagara College Female Athlete of the Week.
With the Knights hosting two home games over the weekend and the latter of them being Koslowski’s final regular season home match as a Knight, she did not disappoint. The long time leader of the Knights was terrific against the Mountaineers last Wednesday during the NC Let’s Talk match for Bell Let’s Talk day. Playing in a tough 3-1 loss, Koslowski led the team with 20 points, including 18 kills. She also had two service aces and had just as strong of a game defensively, recording 14 digs.
Koslowski continued her strong week when the Knights hosted the St. Clair Saints on Saturday afternoon in Welland. Facing a tough Saints team who entered play with a 12-3 record, Koslowski helped the Knights force a fifth and final set, which they ultimately dropped. In the match, the former CCAA All-Canadian led the team again with 17 points, including 15 kills and two services aces.
By registering two more service aces on Saturday against the Saints, Koslowski is now just three service aces away from tying the Niagara Knights career record. She has two more matches this season to break the record.
The Knights will continue their season against the Humber Hawks on Wednesday at Humber
MALE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Van Hutchinson of the men’s basketball program has been named the Niagara College Male Athlete of the Week.
The Knights started their week off by travelling to Sheridan College on Tuesday night to play the Bruins in a matchup of two of the OCAA West’s top teams. Hutchinson Jr. was a monster on the glass all night long against the Bruins, finishing the game with 17 rebounds. At the end of the 103-95 loss for the Knights, Hutchinson Jr totalled 24 points, five assists and three steals to pair along with his strong rebounding performance.
The narrative of outstanding rebounding only got stronger in Sunday’s tilt with the Lambton Lions as the 6-foot-4 forward from the Bahamas grabbed a career-high 22 rebounds. Playing alongside Jordon McDonald, the two big men totalled 39 of the Knights’ 54 rebounds. Hutchinson Jr finished with a spectacular 20 and 20 double-double with 22 points and 22 boards.
In two games last week, Hutchinson Jr. scored 46 points and grabbed 39 rebounds. In 16 games this season, he is averaging 24.7 points. 12.9 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game.
The Knights continue their regular season when they take on the Humber Hawks on Thursday night on the road. With four games remaining on the season, the Knights are looking to cement themselves in the top four of the OCAA West in order to host a playoff game.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
The Knights had a two-game week, first travelling to Sheridan College to take on the Bruins. Heading into the matchup, the Knights sat in third place in the OCAA West while the Bruins were one step ahead in the second-place spot.
The Bruins exploded out of the gate offensively, scoring 32 points in the first quarter. At the quarter break, the Knights would regroup as they bounced back to outscore the Bruins in each of the next two quarters. They would take a narrow 78-75 lead into the fourth quarter but couldn’t find their rhythm in the final frame, shooting just 27.8% (5-18) as a team and managing just 17 points in a 103-95 loss.
Head coach Phil Mosley liked the way his team played despite the loss.
“This was a tough battle and our guys met the challenge several different times throughout the game,” Mosley said. “We proved tonight that if we stay together and trust each other we can overcome rough patches in games and stay poised to compete to the end.”
The Knights then rebounded wth a 95-75 win over the Lambton Lions.
Hutchinson Jr’s 22 rebounds were a career-high as he finished off the 20 and 20 double-double with 22 points while Jordan McDonald also contributed significantly with 21 points and 17 rebounds. Joining the two big men with a solid performance was rookie Rahim Bardi (St. Catharines) as he scored a season-high 24 points in the win.
“We started strong and focused and continued that pace throughout the game,” Mosley said. “Van and Jordan gave us a strong presence on the boards and defensively and Alex Elliott and Rahim Bardi provided strong scoring from the outside.”
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
The women’s basketball program travelled to take on the Sheridan Bruins on Tuesday night. Taking on one of the OCAA’s top programs, the Knights played a great game despite finishing just short of a win.
Bridget Atkinson (Welland) started things off strong as she scored eight of the Knights’ 18 points in the first quarter as they jumped out to an early 18-10 lead. A strong third quarter by the Bruins, in which they scored 26 points, was the turning point of the game as Sheridan stormed back to win 68-61.
Atkinson finished with 18 points and four rebounds while Tia Stys (St. Catharines) nearly completed a double-double, finishing the match with 14 points and nine rebounds.
Hannah Baker (Welland) and Kim Shepard also had double-digit points with 11 and 10, respectively.
“We started well because we’re committed to defending, holding them to 21 first half points,” Knights head coach Michael Beccaria said. “Quite simply, in the second half it was the opposite. We allowed a good team to get up off the mat and we just need to be more resilient than we were in the second half today.”
Taking on the Lambton Lions on Sunday afternoon at home, the Knights pulled out a 59-49 win.
Atkinson led the way once again with another double-double as she scored 17 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. Rysa Delmundo (Niagara Falls) finished with 14 points, thanks to a strong third quarter in which she scored eight points.
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
One of the hottest programs in the OCAA continued their recent dominance as they had a perfect week against the Mohawk Mountaineers and the St. Clair Saints.
In the first match of the week, the Knights hosted Mohawk for the NC Let’s Talk matches for Bell Let’s Talk Day. In front of their home fans, the Knights did not disappoint as they worked their way to a 3-0 victory (25-18, 25-18, 25-21).
Elijah Bugiardini was smashing sets from Ben Fillmore all match long as he finished with 12 kills on 20 total attack attempts. Fillmore finished with 23 assists.
In their second matchup of the weekend, the Knights would make quick work of the St. Clair Saints, dominating from the beginning of the first set. The Saints managed just nine points in the first set as they struggled to return any of the Knights’ attacks. The match would finish 3-0 (25-9, 25-12, 25-17) in favour of the home team.
Fillmore spread his 22 assists around the court as eight Knights’ players recorded at least one kill. Bugiardini led the team again with nine kills.
The Knights win against the Saints marked two in a row as they look to finish off the season on another win streak. Since dropping their first three matches of the season, Niagara has gone 11-2 and climbed up the OCAA standings. With just two matches left on the season, the Knights need to win just one in order to secure a home playoff game for the OCAA crossover matchup.
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
It was a tough schedule for the Niagara Knights women’s volleyball program as they hosted two of the OCAA West’s top programs, starting with the Mohawk Mountaineers.
The Knights got off to a slow start in the first set as Mohawk powered their way to a 25-22 set win. The momentum would shift over in set two as the Knights capitalized on free ball opportunities to pull out a 25-20 win.
With the Knights leading 24-23 in a back-and-forth third set, all they needed was one more point to put the Mountaineers’ backs against the walls but Mohawk rallied scoring three straight points and stunning the Knights with a 26-24 set win to take a 2-1 lead. The momentum shift was too much to overcome as Mohawk would take the final set 25-19 to pick up the 3-1 win.
Koslowski and Natasha Desjardins (Welland) played spectacularly as they finished with 18 and 16 kills. Koslowski also added 14 digs. Libero Madelyn Berg (St. Catharines) had 25 digs and setter Melissa McFadden finished with 38 assists.
“Tonight’s game was very well played on both sides of the court,” Knights head coach Natasha Spaling said. “It is disappointing that all of the work these athletes have put in did not result in a win today.”
Trying to shake off their second straight loss, the Knights hosted St. Clair Saints on Saturday afternoon which the Saints took 15-25, 25-16, 25-22, 22-25, 15-11.
Playing in her final regular season game in the Welland Gymnasium, Koslowski had 15 kills and eight digs while Desjardins had nine kills and 16 digs. Rookie setter Montanna Taylor (St. Catharines) returned to the court and had 26 assists in the loss.
After losing three straight the Knights find themselves in fifth place in the OCAA West standings. With just two matches remaining, they will look to finish off the season on a high note and carry some momentum into their OCAA crossover match which they will have to play on the road.
Coverage of the Niagara Knights is made possible with the support of the Niagara College Department of Athletics & Recreation. For more information, please visit www.goknights.ca
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