CSR (Volleyball Advances to Regional Finals With Victory over Hope)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR NOVEMBER 10, 2006 (Part three)

Calvin Stops Hope in Regional Semis * Sets Up Rematch With Wittenberg

Calvin 3, Hope 1 (30-23, 30-25, 30-32, 30-21)

GRAND RAPIDS, MI * For the second straight year, Calvin and Wittenberg will meet for the right to advance to the Elite Eight of the NCAA III Volleyball Tournament. Both teams advanced to Saturday’s regional finals with semifinal victories over conference rivals Friday at the Calvin College Fieldhouse. Wittenberg held off North Coast Athletic Conference rival Hiram in five games while Calvin stopped MIAA rival Hope in four.

A year ago, Wittenberg swept Calvin in three games at Wittenberg’s HPERDs Center. Saturday’s match will be played on the home court of Calvin however. Calvin and Wittenberg met earlier this year at Wittenberg’s Border Battle Tournament and the Knights were able to prevail over the host Tigers in four games. Saturday’s regional final will mark the third meeting between the two teams in NCAA III Tournament play with each team having recorded one victory against the other.

Calvin’s victory over Hope on Friday night was its fourth of the year over the Flying Dutch (25-10). Ranked 11th in the latest AVCA Division III Top-25 poll, Calvin (34-3) came out aggressively in games one and two, building a 24-19 lead in game one and a 22-16 lead in game two. Calvin was able to close out both games but given the same opportunity in game three, leading 25-19, Calvin faltered as Hope battled back with a 7-1 run to creep to within three. Calvin then committed three errors down the stretch that helped Hope come from behind for the 32-30 win.

Calvin then broke open game four with a 13-5 run to take a 25-16 lead. Calvin then picked up five of the final 10 points to record the win.

Calvin was paced in the victory by senior Kristen Kalb who tallied 16 kills and 12 digs while junior Molly Krikke had 12 kills and senior Lorilyn Vogel 11. Junior setter Katie Zondervan also had 45 assists and 12 digs while sophomore Lauren DeGroot had 20 digs. Junior defensive specialist Sarah Ernst also played a key role in game four, picking up a pair of digs and slowing an early-game run by the Flying Dutch.

Hope was led in defeat by sophomore Nora Slenk who chalked up 14 kills while senior Amber Hoezee picked up 12 kills and 10 blocks. Senior Deena VanAssen also had 28 digs for Hope while senior setter Stephanie Poll had 33 assists.

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Fri Nov 10 22:46:14 2006