August 14, 2001
Bergsma Named Interim Volleyball Coach
Warners and Roedvoets named assistant coaches
GRAND RAPIDS * Jerry Bergsma has been named interim head volleyball coach at Calvin.
Bergsma replaces Mary Schutten who left Calvin for a faculty position at Western Michigan University. Schutten served as Calvin women's volleyball coach since 1991 and was 241-98 for a winning percentage of .711. During her tenure, Calvin captured three MIAA titles and earned six NCAA III Tournament berths including a trip to the NCAA III Final Four in 1992.
Bergsma will be joined on the coaching staff by a pair of new assistants. Amber Warners will serve as the varsity assistant coach while Amy Roodvoets will serve as junior varsity coach.
Bergsma was an assistant coach under Schutten since 1996 and was part of a Calvin coaching staff that led the Knights to an MIAA title in 1999 and trips to the NCAA III Tournament in 1997, 1998 and 1999. He takes over a team that posted a 27-8 record last fall and finished second in the MIAA with a 12-2 conference mark and a runner-up performance in the MIAA Tournament.
A 1990 graduate of Calvin, Bergsma was a member of the Calvin men's volleyball club team as a student where he earned All-Midwest Volleyball Association accolades. After graduating from Calvin, he coached one year of junior varsity volleyball at Grandville Christian High School. Bergsma then taught two years at Timothy Christian High School in Barrie, Ontario, before returning to Grand Rapids to work on his graduate education.
A native of Brampton, Ontario and a graduate of Toronto District Christian High School, Bergsma received his master's degree in physical education from Western Michigan University in 1996. He has served as an instructor in the Calvin Physical Education Department over the last six years and was recently appointed to a full-time position in the department.
During the 1995-96 academic year, Bergsma also served as head coach of the girl's varsity volleyball team at East Grand Rapids High School where he guided the Pioneeers to a 41-14-4 record and a Class B District Championship. This past spring, Bergsma took over as head women's tennis coach at Calvin after serving as an assistant coach with the team the previous year. In his first year as women's tennis coach, Bergsma led Calvin to an 11-5 dual match record including a 4-3 mark in the MIAA as the Knights took fourth in the final conference standings. Bergsma will continue to serve as as head women's tennis coach at Calvin.
"I am very excited about this opportunity," said Bergsma. "It has always been a goal of mine to be a head volleyball coach at the collegiate level but this opportunity came sooner than I expected. Calvin has traditionally been one of the top volleyball teams in the MIAA and my goal is to continue to be a contender for the league title every year."
Warners presently serves as Calvin's head softball coach and is a professor in the Calvin Physical Education Department. She previously served as an assistant volleyball coach at Calvin in 1995 and also served as the head interim volleyball coach at Hope College in 1994 where she led the Flying Dutch to a 21-11 record and a third place finish in the MIAA.
A 1990 graduate of Calvin, Warners earned her master's degree in sports psychology from Michigan State University where she is also completing her Ph.D. requirements. At Calvin, she was a member of six MIAA championship teams * three in softball and three in volleyball. Calvin also earned six NCAA III tournament bids in softball and volleyball during that span, finishing fifth in the nation in 1989 and fourth in 1990 in softball and finishing as national runner-up in volleyball in 1986. Warners was a three-time member of the All-MIAA 1st team in volleyball and was named the MIAA's MVP in 1988 and 1989. As a senior, Warners shared the Kay Tiemersma award with Stephanie Rhind, an award given to the top senior female student-athlete at Calvin.
Prior to her return to Calvin, Warners taught and coached at Holland Christian High School for five years where she served as the varsity softball coach for two years and the varsity volleyball coach for five years. In 1994, Warners led Holland Christian to the Class B State Finals in volleyball.
"I'm very excited that Amber will be with me on the coaching staff," said Bergsma. "Her volleyball knowledge and experience will be invaluable to our team."
Roodvoets will be a senior at Calvin this fall. A two-year member of the Calvin volleyball program, she is currently the head girls volleyball coach at South Christian High School. "I feel very good about Amy taking over as our junior varsity coach," said Bergsma. "She did an excellent job in her first year as head coach at South Christian and I am confident that she will continue to do the same as our junior varsity coach."
Calvin women's athletic director Nancy Meyer expressed confidence in the new coaching staff. "We feel very fortunate to have two veteran coaches in Jerry and Amber on our staff who are willing to step in and guide the program this year," she said. "Amy is also a good addition to the coaching staff. I have no doubt that they will continue the fine record established by Mary Schutten."
The change in the coaching staff is not the only change for the upcoming Calvin volleyball season. This fall, college volleyball will move to a rally scoring format where each play will result in a point, eliminating the previous sideout format. The first four games will be scored to 30 points, with the winner needing to win by two points. The fifth and deciding game will be played to 15 with the winner needing to win by two points. The collegiate game will also copy the international game with the let serve. A served ball will remain in play if it hits the net and continues its path to the opposition's court.
"The new rules will be a big change for college volleyball," said Bergsma. "The biggest adjustment is knowing that good defense can score points. Defense has been a trademark of Calvin volleyball and it will again be a primary focus of our team this fall."
"I have mixed emotions about the rules changes," he continued. "The new format will take away some of the traditional longer momentum swings. I think momentum swings will come in much shorter bursts. Successful serving and blocking will be even bigger weapons this year and big keys to a team's success."
Calvin will open practice this Saturday. The Knights return nine letterwinners from last year's team. Calvin will open its season on August 31 and September 1 at the Hornet Invitational hosted by Kalamazoo College. The Knights will open their MIAA campaign on September 7 when it hosts Adrian at 6:30 pm at the Calvin Fieldhouse.
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