Calvin Captures First Outright MIAA Title Since 1999;
Men’s Soccer Ties Adrian 1-1;
Calvin Fall Sports Teams Continue to Hold National Rankings
VOLLEYBALL
Calvin 3, Albion 0
(Written by Annalise Venhuizen ’08)
ALBION - For the first time since 1999, the Calvin women’s volleyball team has captured an outright MIAA title. Calvin clinched the title with a 30-22, 30-26, 30-13 victory at Albion Tuesday night. Ranked 13th in the latest AVCA Division III Coaches’ poll, Calvin improved to 25-1 overall and to 14-0 in the MIAA. This marked the 16th consecutive win for the Knights.
Calvin has now won 15 MIAA titles, more than any other MIAA member school.
Calvin’s front row out-shone that of Albion this evening as the Knights amassed 48 kills and 44 assists while Albion (9-15, 2-13 MIAA) had 25 kills and 22 assists. Calvin’s blocking was also un-matched as the Knights had seven team blocks to Albion’s one. Both teams were fairly even in the back row, Albion gathering 63 digs to Calvin’s 69.
Leading Calvin’s strong offense were junior Molly Krikke (Greenwich, OH/South Central) with 19 kills and four blocks and senior Kristen Kalb (Stow, OH/Stow Munroe Falls), who had 15 blocks and eight digs. Junior setter Katie Zondervan (Lakewood, CA/Valley Christian) dished out 39 assists and also had a hand in four blocks.
Sophomore libero Lauren DeGroot (Tulare, CA/Central Valley Christian) contributed 21 digs for the Calvin defense, while freshman Kelsey Sears (Traverse City/Traverse City West) added 14, Zondervan had 13, and sophomore Stacie Lippert (St. Louis, MI/St. Louis) had 10 digs.
With the MIAA regular season title, Calvin also gains the top seed for next week’s MIAA Tournament and will hold home court advantage for the tournament.
Calvin returns to action this weekend when it hosts the Midwest Classic. Calvin will host Kalamazoo and Alma in the Classic and will also meet 18th-ranked Baldwin-Wallace and Muskingum in tournament play.
MIAA WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 10-24-06
Calvin 14-0
Hope 11-3
Adrian 11-4
Alma 9-5
Saint Mary’s 8-6
Kalamazoo 5-9
Tri-State 5-10
Albion 2-13
Olivet 0-16
CALVIN’S MIAA VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
1972
1973
1974
1976
1977
1982 (co-champs with Alma)
1983 (co-champs with Alma)
1985
1986
1988
1989
1992
1993 (co-champs with Kalamazoo)
1999
2006
MEN’S SOCCER
(Written by Drew DeVries ’08)
Calvin 1, Adrian 1 (2 OT)
GRAND RAPIDS - Calvin came into today’s contest against the visiting Bulldogs of Adrian riding a five game winning streak. The streak had put the Knights into third place in the MIAA. As the season begins to wind down, the Knights were looking to keep that streak alive. But after 90 minutes of play and two overtime periods, the score still read a 1-1 tie.
All day long, Calvin put the pressure on the Bulldog defenders. That pressure paid off twenty minutes in when freshman Alex McKenzie (Lindenhurst, IL/Antioch) tapped it in off of a crossing pass from junior Jared Litty (Hudsonville/Hudsonville). Calvin was unable to capitalize on any more opportunities and went into halftime with a 1-0 lead.
The second half was more of the same story as the Knights continued to fire the ball towards the Adrian net. As time was winding down, Adrian fired its first shot of the afternoon and made it count. Matt Luthardt got a piece of the ball off of a direct kick from Dusty Kendall and with just over five minutes to go, the score was tied 1-1.
In the first overtime period, each team had a scoring chance but neither executed. The second overtime saw no shots from either team but the Knights were almost able to capitalize in the final seconds but the ball was sent flying over the net by an Adrian defender.
Calvin outshot the Bulldogs 36-2 while Bulldog goalkeeper Ryan O’Keefe collected 12 saves.
The Knights will play host to rival Hope College next on Saturday afternoon at 2:00.
MIAA MEN’S SOCCER STANDINGS THROUGH 10-24-06 GAMES
Hope 10-1-0 (30 points)
Albion 9-2-0 (27 points)
Calvin 6-2-3 (21 points)
Kalamazoo 6-5-0 (18 points)
Olivet 4-7-0 (12 points)
Adrian 2-6-3 (9 points)
Tri-State 2-7-2 (8 points)
Alma 1-10-0 (3 points)
CALVIN FALL SPORTS TEAMS NATIONALLY-RANKED
Four of Calvin’s fall sports teams continue to hold lofty national rankings. Three of Calvin’s teams are ranked in the top 10 and all four are ranked in the top 15.
The men’s cross country team is once again ranked number-one in the latest Division III Coaches’ poll. The Knights received all eight of the first place votes in this week’s poll. Calvin has been ranked number-one in every poll this year. The complete poll can be found at: http://ustfccca.cstv.com/ot/c-xc/division3-men-national-poll.html
The women’s cross country team is also ranked sixth for the second consecutive week. Geneseo State (NY) continues to hold down the top spot. The complete poll can be found at: http://ustfccca.cstv.com/ot/c-xc/division3-women-national-poll.html
Both Calvin cross country teams will compete at the MIAA Championships this Saturday at Alma College. The official web site for the MIAA Championships can be found on the Alma web site at: http://www.alma.edu/athletics/06_MIAA_Championships
In women’s soccer, Calvin is once again ranked third in the D3kicks.com top-25 poll and fourth in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Top-25 poll. The D3kicks.com poll can be found at: http://www.d3kicks.com/top25.php. the NSCAA Top-25 poll can be found at: http://nscaa.com/seniorRes.php?it=269. The women’s soccer team returns to action on Wednesday when it travels to Olivet for a 4:00 p.m. MIAA contest.
In women’s volleyball, Calvin has risen to 13th in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association of America Division III Top-25 poll. Calvin was ranked 17th in last week’s poll. Calvin (25-1 overall) returns to action on Friday when it co-hosts the Midwest Classic with Hope. Calvin will meet Kalamazoo at 4:00 p.m. and 18th-ranked Baldwin-Wallace at 6:00 p.m.
The latest Division III Top-25 rankings can be found on-line at: http://www.avca.org/collegiate/DIIIpoll/DIIIpoll10-24-06.asp
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Tue Oct 24 20:51:57 2006
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