CSR (Volleyball Picks Up 1st Round NCAA III Tourney Win Over UW-LaCrosse)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR NOVEMBER 8, 2007 (Part Two)

CALVIN VOLLEYBALL PICKS UP 1st ROUND NCAA III TOURNEY WIN OVER UW-LaCROSSE

Calvin 3, UW LaCrosse 1 (26-30, 30-26, 30-20, 30-15)

Kenosha, WI – For the fourth straight year, the Calvin volleyball team has
advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament. With a 3-1 win over the
18th ranked University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Thursday evening, Calvin (30-4)
moves on to play in the semi-final of the Midwest Regional on Friday night at
7pm (EST). The 15th ranked Knights will play sixth ranked Carthage College,
the host of the regional.

With the win, Calvin reaches the 30-win plateau for the ninth time in school
history and for the third straight year.

Calvin has four seniors who have been in the program for all four of the NCAA
appearances over the last four seasons - outside hitter Kristen Kalb (Stow,
OH), middle hitter Molly Krikke (Greenwich, OH), setter Katie Zondervan
(Lakewood, CA) and defensive specialist Sarah Ernst (Fort Wayne, IN).

"I am so proud of those four seniors," said head coach Amber Warners. "They
have put this program on the map, and they know what it means to play in the
NCAAs – their experience really helped us tonight. I get a little choked up
when I talk about how much they mean to me and this program."

Calvin looked shaky early as UW-La Crosse took the first game 30-26. The
Knights had jumped out to a 15-10 lead in the first game but an 11-4 run by the
Eagles put Calvin in too big of a whole and they never caught up.

Game two was looking much the same for Calvin as they trailed throughout much
of it. With her team down 22-18, Coach Warners called a timeout to try to get
her team straightened out.

"We were nervous and weren't playing to our abilities," said coach Warners. "I
told them to calm down and play for each point, not for the match."

It worked for the Knights as they reeled off four straight points to tie the
score and were able to sneak out a 30-26 win in game two. That timeout turned
out to be the turning point of the match as Calvin was able to gain momentum
from there on. Calvin was aided in the second game by sophomore defensive
specialist Katie Corbett (St. Joseph), who turned in numerous sensational
plays.

"Katie has been getting better all season," said coach Warners. "She gave us a
great effort tonight, our whole defense did – it was a big part of our win."

Calvin came out strong in game three with incredible defensive play in the back
row and at the net. The Knights jumped out to a 10-2 lead and pulled away from
La Crosse as the Eagles were never able to get the momentum back. Calvin
increased its lead and ended up winning game three 30-20.

Calvin rolled to the victory in the fourth game, dominating the play from the
beginning in route to a 30-15 win, completing the 3-1 win.

"We really turned it on and were impressive in the last game," said Warners.
"I think we were comfortable with our play at that point."

Calvin was led by its seniors as Krikke, recently named MIAA Most Valuable
Player, had 21 kills and Kalb collected 18 for the match. Freshman Kim
Wigboldy (Chandler, AZ) had a big game with 12 kills while junior Jessica
Garlick (Kalamazoo Christian) and sophomore Sara Kramer (Dyer, IN) each had
seven kills.

Zondervan had a whopping 61 assists for the game, as she was superb in finding
her outside and middle hitters. She also collected four digs on defense.

Junior Lauren DeGroot (Tulare, CA) led the team in digs as she had 16. Kalb
and Corbett had 13 digs apiece while sophomore Kelsey Sears (Traverse City)
chipped in with 10.

Calvin will try to advance to the regional final for the second year in a row
tomorrow when it takes on sixth-ranked and host Carthage College (32-4), who
defeated Carroll (WI) in three games Thursday evening. In Friday's first
regional semifinal, 14th-ranked Wisconsin-Oshkosh (32-5) will face
seventh-ranked Washington University (28-5). Wisconsin-Oshkosh defeated
conference opponent Wisconsin-Platteville in five games on Thursday while
Washington swept Hanover in three.

Making its 17th appearance in the NCAA III Tournament, Calvin is now 19-18
all-time in NCAA III Tournament play.

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Thu Nov 8 22:59:55 2007