CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2006 (Part Two)
Volleyball Captures MIAA Tourney Title in Thriller Over Hope;
Men's Soccer Downs Olivet 2-0 In Season Finale
Swim Teams Split at Wheaton
VOLLEYBALL
Calvin 3, Hope 2 (30-25, 30-27, 27-30, 25-30, 15-10)
(Written by Annalise VenHuizen ’08)
GRAND RAPIDS--The third meeting between Calvin and Hope this season, tonight's MIAA Championship match was the most intense and the most meaningful, having as its prize not only a golden trophy but also an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament. The previous two meetings between the conference rivals were settled in four games, Calvin capturing both victories, but this match was pushed to five games as Hope (24-9) came back from a 2-0 deficit to take games three and four. Calvin held out against Hope in game five however to come away with the 30-25, 30-27, 27-30, 25-30, 15-10 win.
The victory enabled Calvin (32-1) to capture its third straight MIAA Tournament title including its fifth in eight years. The Knights are now 11-0 in MIAA Tournament matches played at the Calvin Fieldhouse and are also 12-0 in matches played at home this year.
Calvin will also continue to enjoy homecourt advantage as the Knights have been selected to host an eight-team, three-day NCAA III Regional tournament November 9, 10 and 11. Calvin will enter the eight-team regional as the top seed.
The Knights set the tone of the match with an early 5-0 lead in game one that included two service aces from junior Molly Krikke (Greenwich, OH/South Central) and a kill by senior Lorilyn Vogel (Orange City, IA/Unity Christian). Serving proved to be a factor in the match as Hope had nine service errors and eleven aces, while Calvin had only two service errors and nine aces. After a 12-5 Calvin lead, Hope closed the gap to two, 12-10. The Calvin offense then came up with several kills on Hope to regain a seven-point 22-15 lead. Though Hope tied the game at 25-25, Calvin allowed no more points and took the game 30-25.
Hope's offense outplayed Calvin's in the beginning of game two, Hope running away to an 11-4 lead while allowing only two kills and one tip from Calvin. As Calvin took control of its offensive opportunities, it came from behind to tie the game at 18-18 as freshman Sara Kramer (Dyer, IN/Illiana Christian), Vogel, Krikke, and senior Katie Luimes (Caledonia, ON/Hamilton District Christian) had a total of seven kills during the comeback. Hope remained two steps ahead of Calvin after a 20-20 tie, but Calvin caught up to tie again at 26. The Knights then had three kills in the final five volleys, one from Krikke and two from senior Kristen Kalb (Stow, OH/Stow Munroe Falls), to win 30-27.
The Hope defense again shut down the Calvin offense in game three, allowing Hope to lead until Calvin caught up at 16-16. Hope regained a two-point lead, but six straight Calvin points gave the Knights their first lead of the game, 20-19, and then a three-point lead at 22-19. Hope tied again at 22 on a service ace and took the next two points. Though Calvin kept close, Hope was relentless on defense, and unforced errors cost Calvin the 27-30 loss.
Determined to push the match to five games, the Hope defense stood strong again through game four. Though Calvin led by a 9-4 margin, Hope came within one at 14-13 and tied the game at points 19 through 22. Hope then broke through to a four-point lead at 28-24 after allowing only three kills from Calvin since the score read 19-19. Hope held Calvin at bay to secure the 30-25 win.
When it came down to the wire in the final game, Krikke put Calvin up 2-0 with a well-placed tip and a block, forcing Hope to play from behind. Three Hope blocks and a kill tied the game at four and then put Hope ahead 6-4. A massive Vogel kill that ended a long volley that included extraordinary efforts by both teams tied the game at 6-6, after which Calvin stayed ahead by at least one and then established a five-point lead at 14-9 as Kalb and Vogel had huge kills. Fittingly, Kalb ended the game with a kill to give Calvin the 15-10 victory.
In winning game five, the Knights improved their record to 32-1 and won their fifth MIAA Tournament, which is now in its eighth year. Head Coach Amber Warners commends her team for "coming out, holding our own, and being ready to fight against a strong Hope team that wanted to win. The match was well-played on both sides."
Ranked 12th in Division III, Calvin also gained an automatic bid to NCAA play and anticipates Monday when the pairings will be announced. Looking forward, Coach Warners said, "We have a lot of work ahead of us with playing in and also hosting the regional next week." Hope is not yet ruled out of further post-season play as many at-large bids are to be had and as the Flying Dutch are ranked in the region and have recorded wins against nationally-ranked teams.
Leading Hope in defeat were Amber Hoezee with 19 kills, Nora Slenk with 16, Jill Immink with 12, and Kim Brandes with 11. Deena VanAssen had 30 digs for Hope, while Stephanie Poll had 36 assists and Andrea Helminiak had 21 assists and 10 digs.
For Calvin, Kalb had a total 24 kills and 15 digs while Vogel put up 19 kills, Krikke followed with 17 kills and four blocks, and Luimes had 11 kills and six blocks. Sophomore libero Lauren DeGroot had a team-high 19 digs, freshman defensive specialist Kelsey Sears had 16 digs, and junior setter Katie Zondervan, who leads the nation in assists-per-game, had 68 assists and 18 digs.
MEN’S SOCCER
Calvin 2, Olivet 0
OLIVET - Calvin will carry a nine-match unbeaten streak into the 2007 season after handing Olivet a 2-0 defeat Saturday afternoon in the season finale for both teams. After opening the year with a 3-5-3 record, Calvin closed out its 2006 campaign with a 7-0-2 mark over its final nine games.
With Saturday’s victory, Calvin (10-5-5 overall) finished third in the final MIAA standings with an 8-2-4 conference mark. Saturday’s victory also helped Calvin reach the double-digit plateau in victories for the 27th time in the last 29 years.
Calvin broke a scoreless deadlock on Saturday with a goal by sophomore Ben Buehrle (Tri-unity Christian HS) in the 49th minute of play. The goal was the fourth of the year for Buehrle with freshman Alex McKenzie (Antioch, IL) drawing an assist on the play.
Calvin senior David Holwerda (Grand Rapids Christian HS) then connected on his sixth goal of the year just over 12 minutes later, ripping in a deep blast off a pass from freshman Luke Holtrop (Unity Christian HS).
Calvin junior goalkeeper David Fortosis (West Chicago, IL/Wheaton Academy HS) went the distance in nets for the Knights collecting five saves to record his fourth shutout of the season.
Calvin held a 28-6 shots at goal advantage including an 18-4 advantage in the second half.
FINAL MIAA MEN’S SOCCER STANDINGS
Hope 12-1-1
Albion 11-2-1
Calvin 8-2-4
Kalamazoo 7-7-0
Tri-State 4-8-2
Olivet 4-10-0
Adrian 2-8-4
Alma 2-12-0
MEN’S AND WOMEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING
Calvin Women 130, Wheaton Women 107
Calvin Women 126, Grand Valley State Women 115
Wheaton Men 124, Calvin Men 112
Grand Valley State Men 140, Calvin Men 112
WHEATON, IL - The Calvin women’s swimming and diving team upped its season dual meet record to 4-0 with non-conference victories over Wheaton and Grand Valley State Saturday afternoon defeating host Wheaton 130-107 and Grand Valley State 126-115. On the men’s side, Calvin slipped to 1-3 in dual meet competition, falling to Wheaton 124-112 and to Grand Valley State 159-83.
In the women’s competition, senior Becky Weima (Grand Rapids Christian HS) continued to sparkle early on. One day after setting a school record in the 1,000 freestyle, Weima recorded NCAA III B’ cut qualifying times in winning the 200 freestyle (1:53.65) and 500 freestyle (5:06.85). Weima also anchored Calvin’s winning 400 freestyle relay team that clocked in with a time of 3:37.20. Weima was joined on the 400 freestyle relay team by freshman Katie White (Grand Rapids Christian HS), junior Kat Vinson (Kaneohe, HI) and junior Stephanie Duncan (Long Grove, IL).
Sophomore Erica Deur (Holland Christian HS) also captured the three-meter diving competition with a score of 254.25 while placing second on the one-meter board (230.41).
In the men’s competition, Calvin’s lone victory came from junior Joe Gluvers (Rocklin, CA) in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:04.62.
Full meet results can be viewed at: http://www.calvin.edu/sports/mswimdiv/Results06/Calvin-GVSU-Wheaton-06.htm
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Sat Nov 4 22:09:58 2006
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