Humber’s women's volleyball team defeated the Niagara Knights 3-1, making it the 45th all-time win since 1988.
The victory also keeps the Hawks in second place in the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) West Standings with a 10-2 record.
Niagara started the new year with a record of 1-2 and was hoping to end the historic streak at the Hawks' nest.
Hawks head coach Chris Wilkins said Niagara presents them as a challenging team despite history.
“Niagara is a good enough program to be a problem for us,” he said. “We're just going to keep our eye on the big prize and just keep working to get better.”
Humber added two l players to the roster, veteran middle blocker Keyome Ellis and second-year setter Kaley Rawlick.
“We brought them in for a reason,” Wilkins said. “They're good players that are going to help us out and are going to make us better.”
In the first set, the Hawks took the early lead 7-1 before the Knights called a timeout.
Niagara kept the game going as they cut the deficit to 23-20 in Humber’s favour.
However, the Hawks would allow five unanswered points due to their mistakes, giving the Knights the victory after fifth-year right side hitter Hannah Manners tipped the ball out of bounds.
Humber brought a rejuvenated energy in the second set, scoring 10 unanswered points and having the lead in double digits.
Niagara called a timeout after only scoring three points, and with the score 18-5, the Knights had a long way to climb.
Humber benefited from a service error from the opposition to win the second 25-13, with both teams tied at one apiece, heading into the third.
The Hawks continued their momentum as they went on to score eight unanswered points at the start of the set.
It was a repeat of the same script, as Humber dominated the whole set and won the third 25-12 after another service error was made by Niagara.
In the early stage of the fourth set, the Knights had the hunger to keep the game going in a must-win situation.
However, the Hawks kept their composure and continued to increase the deficit, leading 17-9 before a timeout was called by Niagara.
Despite the call, it wasn’t enough for the Knights to come back, as Humber sealed the victory 25-13 to win the game 3-1.
Rawlick's introduction into the Hawks nest saw her deliver 26 assists, four service aces and a career-high of 13 digs.
After the game, Wilkins said the focus was on reducing errors after the first set defeat.
“We needed to clean up things on our side and just play our Humber volleyball,” he said. “We were just making way too many errors in the first set, and we cleaned that up for the rest of the match.”
Niagara’s head coach, Steve Stone, said ball control was a key issue in their defeat.
“It came down to our ball control in the grand scheme of things, and not staying as aggressive as we should offensively,” he said. “We struggled putting the ball away, and obviously, against a tough team like Humber, you've got to be able to put balls away [and] put pressure on them.”
Ellis said her motivation for returning to Humber was because of missing the love of the sport, as well as her friend Manners playing her last season.
“When I retired, it was kind of a mental game. I told myself ‘I’m never coming back,’ and then I realized Hannah Manners was graduating this year,” she said. “So I was like, ‘you know what, if I'm going to come back and play it, it has to be now.’”
Ellis said that her focus right now is on leadership and supporting her teammates.
“I'm just here to help lead. I'm just here to help guide and encourage everybody, just make everyone comfortable to take risks,” she said. “If you go for it, the reward might be bigger than the risk.”
The Hawks faced the Conestoga Condors on Jan. 24, where they swept them 3-0.
Humber will host the Mohawk Mountaineers on Jan. 29 with the first tip at 6 p.m.
