CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2006
Calvin Volleyball Team Advances To MIAA Tournament Finals Against Hope;
Swimming and Diving Teams Split Dual Meets at Olivet
VOLLEYBALL
Hope 3, Adrian 2
Calvin 3, Saint Mary’s 0
(Written by Annalise Venhuizen '08)
GRAND RAPIDS--After capturing the MIAA regular-season title, one feat remains for Calvin before NCAA Tournament play. Undefeated in MIAA regular season play and ranked 12th in the most recent Division III Coaches' Poll, the Knights are hosting the MIAA Tournament this weekend and faced St. Mary's in a 7:30 semifinals match.
The conference tournament appearance was the first-ever for St. Mary's in the tournament's eight years. Even as the Belles took this unprecedented opportunity to prove their place, Calvin (31-1) came out victorious in three close matches, 30-26, 30-27, 30-22.
St. Mary's took command of the first game early, starting with a 2-0 lead that soon turned into a six-point margin as the Belles led 12-6. After a timeout, Calvin went on a 7-0 run that included three consecutive unforced St. Mary's errors and culminated in a freshman Sara Kramer (Dyer, IN/Illiana Christian) hit off of a misplaced St. Mary's ball, which gave Calvin its first lead, 13-12. After three powerful kills from senior Kristen Kalb (Stow, OH/Stow Munroe Falls), Calvin found a 18-13 lead that was soon extended to 22-15. St. Mary's then turned up the heat with an 8-2 run that put them within one, 24-23, and allowed the Belles to tie at 25 on a kill. Calvin held on to take the game 30-26.
Though St. Mary's lead 2-0 again in game two, Calvin warmed up faster and turned the score to its advantage with a five-point 9-4 lead, helped by two kills from senior Lorilyn Vogel (Orange City, IA/Unity Christian). The lead soon deteriorated under St. Mary's pressure that tied the game at 11-11. A series of back-and-forth scoring followed with alternating ties and St. Mary's one-point leads for seven exchanges up to 15-15. A Vogel kill gave Calvin a four-point lead, 19-15, which lasted until St. Mary's put together a huge effort to tie again 23-23. A Krikke hit had the Knights up 27-23 until three Calvin unforced errors and a huge St. Mary's block again put St. Mary's within one at 28-27. A Kalb kill that came after a strong defensive effort from the Belles to dig her first attack of the volley and a final junior Molly Krikke (Greenwich, OH/South Central) kill gave the Knights the game, 30-27.
Determined, St. Mary's kept game three close though Calvin began the scoring and lead at 9-6. St. Mary's tied the game at 11 and took a 12-11 lead, and after Calvin had a short-lived two-point lead at 14-12, never allowed the margin to exceed one. Scoring tied multiple times through 22-22, neither team being able to string points together until Calvin broke through to a 24-22 lead and continued to pull away. A huge slide kill from Krikke put the Knights ahead by four, two consecutive St. Mary's unforced errors following to make the score 28-22. A strike from Kalb in the back row followed by a well-placed Krikke attack ended the game and the match, Calvin winning 30-22.
Junior setter Katie Zondervan (Lakewood, CA/Valley Christian) dished out 46 assists in the three games, while Krikke amassed 18 kills and Kalb added 17. Calvin's defense put together 72 digs, 29 from sophomore libero Lauren DeGroot (Tulare, CA/Central Valley Chrsian) and 15 from Kalb. St. Mary's exceeded Calvin with front-row defense with nine total team blocks to Calvin's 1.5.
Calvin's Head Coach Amber Warners praised St. Mary's for its play, "This was by far the best I've seen them play. They did a really nice job of playing consistent volleyball." As for her own team, Warners said, "We need to get used to being the team that's expected to win. It's harder coming out with that mentality than with the mentality that you're the underdog and have nothing to lose. Tomorrow we want to play better, to play our game, and to play point-for-point."
The Knights will face Hope in the MIAA Tournament final tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. at the Calvin Fieldhouse, marking the fifth time and second consecutive year that the two teams will meet in the final match, Calvin holding a 3-1 advantage in the four prior meetings.
To advance to tomorrow's match, Hope defeated Adrian in tonight's 5:30 p.m. semifinal in a hard-fought five-game victory, 26-20, 30-20, 23-20, 30-28, 15-12.
Leading Adrian in defeat were Lindsey Eshelman with 22 kills, Sara Morningstar with 15 kills, Abby Sikora with 57 assists and 21 digs, and Samantha Mercy with 24 digs. Hope's Nora Slenk had a team-high 20 kills, Amber Hozee added 17, and Kim Brandes had 13. Andrea Helminiak gave out 32 assists while Stephanie Poll had 28 assists and 20 digs and Deena VanAssen led with 33 digs.
MEN’S AND WOMEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING
Olivet Men 182, Calvin Men 114
Calvin Women 183, Olivet Women 106
OLIVET * The Calvin men’s and women’s swimming and diving team had mixed results in MIAA dual meets on Friday night as the women defeated Olivet 173-106 while the men were defeated by the host Comets 182-114.
In the men’s competition, Olivet took first place in 11 of a possible 14 events. Calvin first place finishes in individual events came from freshman John Toll (Atlanta, GA) in the 200 butterfly (2:00.84) and freshman Alex Oddo (Grosse Pointe Park) on the three-meter diving board (217.60). Calvin’s 200 freestyle relay team of senior Andrew Resseguie (Holland Christian HS), junior John Boumgarden (Naperville, IL), freshman Kurt VanAllsburg and senior Peter Tuuk (Grand Rapids Christian HS) took first place in a time of 1:28.94.
In the women’s competition, Calvin senior Becky Weima shattered her own school record in the 1,000 freestyle, clocking in with a time of 10:38.84, breaking her previous record of 10:44.27. Weima was a double-winner as she also won the 50 freestyle in a time of 24.89. Freshman Emily Roberts () was also a double-winner for the Knights, taking first place in both the 100 breaststroke (1:08.74) and 200 breaststroke (2:33.87). Other individual winners for Calvin included junior Stephanie Duncan (Long Grove, IL) in the 200 freestyle (2:00.38), freshman Libby Veldkamp (Calvin Christian HS) in the 500 freestyle (5:37.48), sophomore Erica Deur (Holland Christian HS) on the one-meter diving board (241.05) and sophomore Julie Wolfe (Westerville, OH) in the 100 butterfly (1:01.19).
Calvin’s 200 medley relay team of senior Liz Ingebrigtsen (Bensenville, IL), Roberts, Weima and sophomore Cara VanWoerkom (Calvin Christian HS) also took first place in a time of 1:53.47.
Both Calvin teams will compete in a non-conference triangular on Saturday at Wheaton (IL) which will also include Grand Valley State University.
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Fri Nov 3 22:33:10 2006
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