The stress from the sidelines was noticeable while the Niagara Knights volleyball team watched the last play from their bench.
With the tip of a finger by Knights setter Montanna Taylor, the Fanshawe Falcons couldn’t stop the inevitable.
The Niagara Knights women’s volleyball team seized another bronze medal at the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) bronze medal match on Feb. 22 at Humber Polytechnic’s North campus in Etobicoke. The Knights, ranked third in the OCAA West Division before this match, with a record of 12-6 in the regular season.
Niagara started strong with a quick lead of 6-4, and points would fluctuate between teams from here on out.
After a while, the score tied at 19 points when Taylor deflected the ball coming from the other end outward.
Once the Knights regrouped, they found their rhythm and won the first set by five with a score of 25-20. Niagara carried the same momentum into the second after the switch of sides.
Niagara continued to be the powerhouse in the game and came up with a 19-14 lead within minutes.
But the Falcons did not go away easily battling back to gain four points and cutting the lead to two. Despite their best efforts, the second set ended with a score of 25-22 in favour of the Knights.
With another set down, and Niagara leading two sets to none, Fanshawe clawed their way back up.
The Falcons were up by three within a matter of minutes as the score stood 6-3.
The Blue-and-White showed zero distraction gaining a lead once again.
With five points from closing the set, the Falcons needed four perfect serves to stay alive.
As Taylor spiked it down the middle to win it for the Knights, a tackling violation was called, handing the point to Fanshawe.
To gain another point, the Knights launch it over the net, but with too much power propelling it, Fanshawe gets one instead.
Following a timeout for the teams to regroup, the Knights stepped on the court just one point away from winning it all.
They won the bronze medal match 25-23, securing themselves some hardware, and returning to the podium after five years.
In a post-game interview head coach of the Niagara Knights women’s volleyball team, Steve Stone said he was pleased with how the girls played.
“They came into this weekend focused and ready to compete,” he said.
When asked about the message he gave them before the game, he said it was for them to stay consistent.
This was also one key to their path to success in the bronze medal match.
Stone, in his second year with the team, said securing the hardware also meant being the aggressor on the court.
“We’ve faced Fanshawe twice already, we had won, so we knew we had the confidence going into it,” Stone said.
“But we still had to take care of business, and be the aggressors and go to win,” he said.
Stone said it was also important for the girls to focus and manage the ball on their side of the net more than anything else.
