January 10, 2026 

WELLAND, ONT: The Niagara College men's volleyball team (5-4) battled the Fanshawe Falcons (8-2) at the Simplii Financial Athletic Centre at the Welland Campus Saturday afternoon.  Ending the first half of the season with 2 consecutive wins, the Knights were hoping to continue their winning streak into the new year.  Unfortunately, the Falcons had different plans as the Knights were downed in 3 straight sets (set scores were 20-25, 23-25 and 17-25). 

Starting off the game with both teams trading points, the Falcons were first to find the gas pedal to take an early lead.  With the Knights fighting back, the Falcons were able to hold them off and come out with the first set victory.  In the 2nd set, the Knights found themselves with a slim lead early on before the Falcons were able to claw back and take the mid-set lead.  The Knights were able to tie it up once again at 23-23 but couldn't find the solution to win the set, ultimately having the Falcons take a commanding 2-0 set lead.  The 3rd set saw Fanshawe take an early lead that they would continue to build on as they finished off the sweep.  Sam Pynn led the Knights with 9 points on 6 kills, 2 blocks, 1 dig and a service ace.  Taiten Stifter navigated the offence, contributing 22 assists and 5 digs for the Knights, while Jack Drummond added in 7 points of his own on 5 kills, 2 blocks and a dig. 

Catching up with Steve Stone, head coach of the Knights, after the game he was quick to say that "the boys battled hard in this one – we just couldn't capitalize on plays when we had to."  Stone continued to say that "they (Fanshawe) are a good team and limited their mistakes tonight, making us have to step up our game.  We know what we have to do moving forward and just have to execute our game plans – we'll be ready to battle next weekend." 

The Knights travel north to Sudbury next weekend for a weekend double-header against the Cambrian Shield (7-2) on Saturday evening and the Boreal Vipers (0-9) Sunday afternoon – games are set for 8pm and 3pm, respectively.  Be sure to catch all the action on OCAA Live to keep cheering on your Knights.

For more information on the Knights' team, please visit us at www.goknights.ca.