CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR OCT. 31, 2006
Women's Soccer Team Wraps Up MIAA Title - NCAA III Tourney Bid
Volleyball Team Hits 30-Win Plateau - Advances to MIAA Tourney Semis
Calvin Women’s Soccer Team Wraps Up MIAA Title * NCAA III Tournament Berth
WOMEN'S SOCCER
(written by Drew DeVries '08)
Calvin 3, Kalamazoo 0
GRAND RAPIDS - MIAA Tournament semifinal round action brought the Hornets of Kalamazoo to Zuidema Field this afternoon. Now ranked second in the D3kicks.com top-25 poll and third in the Division III Coaches’ Top 25 poll, Calvin advanced to the semifinal round with a 4-0 win over Alma while Kalamazoo advanced with a shootout victory over Saint Mary’s. On Tuesday, the Knights were able to hold off the Hornets for a 3-0 win which also allowed Calvin to clinch the outright MIAA league title and an automatic bid to the NCAA III Tournament although the Knights still have one MIAA Tournament match left to play.
The MIAA title is based on a combination of placement points that are earned through MIAA regular season and MIAA Tournament play. With is victory over Kalamazoo Tuesday, Calvin (19-0-0 overall) boosted its overall placement point total to 33 points. Calvin will host Hope on Saturday at noon in the MIAA Tournament Championship final. Hope (9-7-2) has 22 overall placement points and has clinched second place in the final MIAA standings. Hope defeated Albion 1-0 in Tuesday's other semifinal match.
The MIAA title is Calvin's fifth including its fourth outright. Calvin also captured outright MIAA titles in 1995, 1996 and 1997. Calvin shared the title with Hope a year ago.
The first goal of the game against Kalamazoo came on a fluke play when freshman Emily Ottenhoff (Palos Heights, IL/Chicago Christian) chipped it near the net and watched it sneak in as it took a change of direction off the back of a defender and through the goalie’s hands. The goal was scored officially as an own goal.
But the next pair of goals were no fluke. About midway through the first half, senior Jill Capel (Hudsonville/Unity Christian) set up fellow senior Noelle Berghuis (Hudsonville/Unity Christian) inside the box as she was able to fire it through to the near post. Ten minutes later, Capel sent a nice cross pass this time to freshman Natalie Veurink (Spring Lake/Western Michigan Christian) who sent a ten yard blast right inside the far post. The Knights took their 3-0 lead into halftime and that is also what the final score read at the end of the game.
Calvin goalkeepers Alyssa Bergsma (Walker/Calvin Christian) and Kayla Sulzer (St. Charles, MO/Whitfield) combined efforts for another shutout victory collecting one save. The Knights held a heavy advantage on the offensive side outshooting the Hornets 24-2.
VOLLEYBALL
Calvin 3, Albion 0 (30-23, 30-11, 30-17)
Calvin advanced to the MIAA Tournament semifinals with a commanding three-game victory over the Britons of Albion Tuesday night in a first round MIAA Tournament match. Calvin defeated Albion by scores of 30-23, 30-11 30-17.
With the win, top-seeded Calvin (30-1) advances to the MIAA Tournament semifinals to face fifth-seeded Saint Mary’s (17-9) in a 7:30 p.m. semifinal. Second-seeded Hope (23-8) will meet third-seeded Adrian (18-8) in the 5:30 p.m. semifinal match. Friday’s winners will then meet in the championship final on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. Calvin will host both the MIAA semifinal matches and the MIAA Championship final.
Tuesday’s victory over Albion was notable for Calvin as it allowed the 12th-ranked Knights to reach the 30-win plateau for the second straight year and for the eighth time in school history.
Calvin posted a team attack percentage of .353 against Albion Tuesday night with senior Kristen Kalb (Stow, OH) leading the way with 19 kills and a .394 attack percentage. Kalb was one of four Calvin players to reach double-digits in kills as junior Molly Krikke (Greenwich, OH) had 12 kills, senior Lorilyn Vogel (Orange City, IA) had 11 kills and senior Katy Luimes (Caledonia, ON) 10 kills. Kalb also had 12 digs and four service aces. In addition, junior setter Katie Zondervan (Lakewood, CA) had 19 digs while freshman Kelsey Sears (Traverse City West HS) had 14 digs.
Calvin is now 17-3 lifetime in the MIAA Tournament and will be making its eighth consecutive appearance in the MIAA Tournament semifinals.
Calvin and Saint Mary’s will be meeting for the fifth time in MIAA Tournament play and for the first time in the MIAA Tournament semifinals. Calvin is 4-0 against Saint Mary’s in the MIAA Tournament.
Calvin has won four of a possible seven MIAA Tournament titles including the last two. The Knights also now 9-0 in MIAA Tournament matches played at the Calvin Fieldhouse.
MIAA Tournament First Round Scores
Calvin d. Albion 30-23, 30-11, 30-17
Hope d. Kalamazoo 30-21, 30-21, 30-19
Adrian d. Tri-State 30-16, 30-21, 30-24
Saint Mary's d. Alma 26-30, 22-30, 30-23, 30-28, 15-11
MIAA Tournament Semifinal Pairings at Calvin
#3Adrian (18-8) vs. #2 Hope (23-8)
#1 Calvin (30-1) vs.#5 Saint Mary’s (17-9)
CALVIN COLLEGE 30-WIN SEASONS
Year Record MIAA Finish
1984 31-9 second place
1985 37-4 1st place
1986 38-2 1st place
1989 34-5 1st place
1992 34-5 1st place
1995 30-8 2nd place
2005 30-9 2nd place
2006 30-1 1st place
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Tue Oct 31 22:15:53 2006
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.8 : Tue Oct 31 2006 - 22:15:53 EST