CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR SEPTEMBER 24, 2007
Zondervan Named MIAA Specialty Player of the Week for Seventh Time;
Men's Cross Country Team Mentioned in NY Daily News Blog
VOLLEYBALL
For the seventh time in her collegiate career, Calvin setter Katie Zondervan has been named MIAA Specialty Player of the Week. A native of Lakewood, California, and a graduate of Valley Christian High School, Zondervan played an integral role in helping Calvin gain conference victories over Hope and Olivet last week.
In the four-game win over Hope last Wednesday, Zondervan amassed 58 assists and 14 digs while also picking up three block assists and a service ace. In Friday's three-game victory over Olivet, she collected 39 assists and 13 digs. Zondervan currently leads the MIAA in assists-per-game average (13.76) and is again ranked among the national leaders in assists-per-game average.
Ranked 16th nationally, the Knights are currently 10-3 overall and on top of the MIAA standings with a 5-0 conference mark. Calvin returns to action on Tuesday night when it travels to Saint Mary's (IN) for a 7:00 p.m. match. Calvin will then host Alma on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. and follow with a road match at Albion on Friday scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
The top-ranked Calvin men's cross country team has received some unique attention from the New York Daily News. In his September 24 sports blog, New York Daily News sports writer Philip Bondy cited the excellence of the Calvin men's cross country program in reference to the local cable television coverage of the New York Yankees. Bondy's on-line blog for September 24 can be found at: http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/bondy/2007/09/teams_with_more_titles_than_th.html
Although Bondy lists Calvin as having won 30 MIAA titles in men's cross country, the Knights have actually won a league-leading 33 titles since becoming a member of the MIAA in the fall of 1953. Of the 33 MIAA titles, 13 came under the leadership of former head coach and Calvin men's athletics director Dave Tuuk while the remaining 20 have come under the guidance of the current Calvin coaching staff which includes head coach Brian Diemer and longtime assistant Al Hoekstra. Calvin's current string of 20 MIAA titles in the second-longest active championship streak in MIAA athletics history, surpassed only by the incredible string of 69 consecutive league titles won by the Kalamazoo men's tennis team - a streak that dates all the way back to 1936.
Calvin also has the third and fourth-longest active streaks in the MIAA with its women's track and field team having won at least a share of 18 consecutive league crowns and its men's track and field team having won at least a share of the last 14 league titles.
Diemer now also serves as the head women's cross country coach at Calvin and has one league title to his credit on the women's side. With a combined 21 league championships as a Calvin cross country coach, Diemer currently ranks ninth on the all-time MIAA list for championships won.
The Calvin men's and women's cross country teams return to action on Friday when they compete at the prestigous Notre Dame Invitational with the women scheduled to run at 2:00 p.m. (CDT) and the men at 2:45 p.m. (CDT).
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Mon Sep 24 17:46:32 2007
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.8 : Mon Sep 24 2007 - 17:46:32 EDT