January 28, 2026 

WELLAND, ONT: The Niagara College women's volleyball team (7-7) welcomed the Redeemer Royals (10-4) to the Simplii Financial Athletic Centre at the Welland Campus in a pivotal matchup, as playoffs near and teams jostle for positioning in the standings. Unfortunately, the Knights could not tally another win as Redeemer was able to pull off the 3-1 victory (set scores were 21-25, 25-18, 19-25 and 17-25). 

Celebrating the Knights' graduating seniors – Keira Virostek, Lily Ireland, Megan Patterson, Laryssa Schipper, Kyleigh Baxter, Sam Cormier and Abbey Gooder – the evening began with both teams trading points back and forth before Redeemer was able to slowly pull away midway through the set.  Niagara was able to battle back and tie things up, just to see Redeemer go on a late surge and take the first set.  The Knights were able to carry their momentum into the 2nd set as they built an early lead that continued to slowly grow as the set went on – allowing the Knights to tie things up with a 7-point set victory.  Redeemer came into the 3rd set, determined to regain the lead, and the Knights were prepared to put up a great defensive stand.  Trading blows back and forth, the Knights were unable to hold off the Royals' attack as Redeemer once again found the gas pedal late in the set and grew their lead, on route to a 2-1 set lead.  The Knights headed into the 4th set ready to push things to the brink, but the Royals had other plans as they fended off Niagara's attack throughout the set and capitalized on some late errors made by Niagara, ultimately winning the match 3-1.  Amy Barlow led the charge for the Knights with 12 points on 11 kills, 11 digs and 1 block.  5th year player, Gooder, followed closely behind with 9 points of her own on 7 kills, 13 digs and 2 blocks; while Tia Kelly contributed 23 assists, 1 point and 12 digs. 

Steve Stone, head coach for the Knights, briefly commented saying that "we came out a little flat to start the game and dug ourselves into a big hole that we had to climb out of."  When asked to elaborate, Stone simply said "we have a few things that we need to clean up and work on in practice over the next week, but we'll be ready to come out and compete against Mohawk." 

Niagara will take the weekend to rest and recover before travelling to Hamilton to take on the Mohawk Mountaineers (5-7) Wednesday evening at 6pm, hoping to get back into the win column.  If you aren't able to catch the action in person, be sure to tune into OCAA Live so you don't miss a thing. 

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