HAWKS HEAD TO NIAGARA ON HEELS OF 7-GAME WIN STREAK

ETOBICOKE, ON: The Humber Hawks men's volleyball team, currently on a seven-game winning streak, will travel to Welland this coming Thursday for a match the Niagara Knights.

THE MATCH UP:

Humber "Hawks" @        Niagara "Knights"            
8-2 – 3^rd West                    6-4, 5^th West
Thursday, January 18/18
8:00 pm (or 30 minutes after the conclusion of the women's game)
Niagara College Athletic Centre – Welland, Ontario

LAST TIME OUT

For the third time this year, the Hawks were pushed to a fifth and deciding set, and for the third straight time it was the Humber squad that came out on top in the marathon. The only difference in this match was the fact that the Hawks fell behind 2-0 in sets. Their opponent was the St. Clair Saints, a team Humber has struggled with over the past few years. Four Hawks scored in double figures, led by Clayton Blanchette's mark of 21 points (19K, 1A, 1B).

LAST TIME OUT VS NIAGARA

The two teams met at Humber at the end of November, with the Hawks falling behind, and sat one set down by way of a 27-25 score in the Knights favour. Humber rallied to win the next three sets in succession by comfortable scores of 25-18, 25-17, 25-19. Dylan Devecseri led all scorers with 20 points (15K, 3 A, 2B). Kamyn Wilkins and Clayton Blanchette also hit double figures, while no Niagara player was able to eclipse the ten-point mark

SCOUTING NIAGARA

• Humber leads the all-time series 22-11, but are only 8-9 on the road at Niagara
• The Knights are coming off a 3-1 road win at Sheridan on Sunday and a 3-1 win at home versus Conestoga on Saturday. Prior to these two wins, they had lost three straight to close out the first half
• As with their standing as a team in league play, the Knights rank among the top ten in most team statistical categories, but place an impressive fifth in kills, with 422
• Mitch Sawatsky (3.3 pps) and Jaydon Milne (3.1 pps) lead the way offensively, but the Knights have another six players registering marks above 2.0 pps
• Aiden Atkinson (180) and Ben Fillmore (152) have shared time in the setter position

HAWK NOTES

• The Hawks have won seven straight, which is their best run since a 10-0 stretch in the 2013-14 season
• Humber ranks high in many categories, including high numbers in assists (3^rd), assists per set (4^th), aces and aces per set (4^th), blocks and blocks per set (5^th). They do drop off in kills and kills per set at 10^th and 11^th, respectively
• Dylan Devesceri, who has yet to lose a league match in a Hawks uniform, leads the team with a mark of 4.0 points per set. Kamyn Wilkins (3.3 pps) and Clayton Blanchette (3.2 pps) follow closely behind
• Rady Kim has done most of the setting (201 assists), but Jake Gomes (107 assists) has been getting a lot of touches recently

HISTORY WATCH

• Head coach Wayne Wilkins is not going away, as with seven straight wins, is staying close to brother Chris's all-time Hawk coaches win record with 323 victories
• Clayton Blanchette has moved up in a number of Humber all-time records, and now sits third in kills (522), and fourth in service aces (70) and fifth in points (651). Based on his averages, he should advance to fourth, possibly third in points, but is a stretch to eclipse anyone else in aces and kills

WATCH LIVE

Niagara College will be live-streaming Thursday's game, free of charge. CLICK HERE for the link to the game.