The Georgian Grizzlies used the home court to their advantage in their opening quarter-final matchup against the Niagara Knights on Thursday night at the Georgian Athletic Centre.
A loud, capacity crowd gave Georgian an edge as they were able to defeat the Knights in straight sets 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-19).
Georgian got a big-time game out of fifth-year veteran Matt Kerr.
The Wingham native posted a game-high five blocks along with seven kills and an ace and was named Player of the Game for the Grizzlies.
"It was nice to be in front of such a loud crowd, it was very intense," said Kerr right after the game. "They came out and brought the noise, they brought the faith and it really helped us."
Georgian's head coach Reid Saxby agreed with the selection and was thrilled with his team's play.
"Great game, a really good start to the tournament for us," said Saxby. "Niagara brought their best and it was a good game. We passed well, good passing and tremendous blocking from Matt Kerr."
The Grizzlies will be moving on to the semi-finals which take place Friday night at 8 p.m. against the Humber Hawks.
"It's going to be a big battle," added Saxby. "We expect to see a lot of big hits and a lot of big blocks. We are going to be ready for a strong test tomorrow."
The Player of the Game for the Knights was awarded to Jaydon Milne (Scarborough) who scored a team-high eight kills in the contest.
The Knights will play in the consolation semi-finals against the Conestoga Condors at 3 p.m. on Friday afternoon.
Source: Georgian College