October 18, 2025
LONDON, ONT: The Niagara College men's volleyball team (0-1) jumped onto the highway and headed to London to take on the Fanshawe Falcons (1-0) for their season opener. Unfortunately, the match did not go as the Knights had hoped as they lost in straight sets (set scores were 19-25, 21-25 and 18-25).
The Knights fought hard and did what they could to keep the first set close before giving up the last 4 points and going down 1-0. In the second set, the Knights came out swinging and maintained an early lead throughout the majority of the set. Unfortunately, the Falcons were able to overtake the Knights and close out the set on a 3-point run. The third set was another back-and-forth affair that had each team trading points with each other until the Falcons built a comfortable lead and just kept building on it, ending the Knights evening with a straight set loss. 2nd year outside hitters, Jack Drummond and Sam Pynn, led the offensive attack for the Knights combining for 23 points on 21 kills, 5 digs and 2 blocks. Britton Burrows, the 2nd year setter, helped run the offense finishing with 22 assists, 2 points, 1 kill, 6 digs and 1 ace.
"I'm proud of how the boys showed up and battled in this one – Fanshawe is always a top program and it's nice to go measure yourselves up to one of the top teams," said Steve Stone, head coach of the Niagara Knights. Stone continued to say that "the guys held their own and battled step-by-step with them (Fanshawe) the whole way. The second set saw us lead for a good chunk of that one, but we weren't able to hold on with too many unforced errors. It was a good lesson learned for everyone involved as we shift our attention to Sheridan on Saturday." Stone wouldn't leave without first giving a shout out to his setter, Burrows, as it was his first start in the OCAA and "he handled himself well and did exactly what we asked of him."
The Knights return home to recharge for the week before heading into Oakville to take on the Sheridan Bruins (0-0). The match is set for 1pm on Saturday, October 25th and you can catch all the action on OCAA Live.
For more information on the Knights' team, please visit us at www.goknights.ca.
