CSR (Calvin Sports Report for August 29, 2008)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR AUGUST 29, 2008

Volleyball Wins Two at Ohio Northern Invitational;
Men's Soccer Clips Goshen in Season Opener;
Women's Soccer Falls in OT at Wash. U Tourney;
Men's Golf In 13th Place After Day One at Olivet Lou Collins Classic

VOLLEYBALL

ADA, OH -- The Calvin volleyball team got off to a roaring start to the 2008
season with a pair of victories at the Ohio Northern Invitational on Friday.
Calvin opened the tournament with a 25-17, 25-17, 25-21 win over Hiram and then
came back to upset 11th-ranked Ohio Northern 26-24, 25-17, 31-29 in front of an
enthusiastic throng Friday night.

Ranked 21st in the most recent AVCA Division III Top 25 poll, Calvin received
12 kills from freshman middle hitter Rebecca Kamp (Orland Park, IL) in the win
over Hiram while freshman Erin VanderPlas (McBain Christian HS) had seven
kills. Junior Nora Bruskewitz (Milwaukee, WI) had 18 assists while sophomore
Carolyn Nelson (Milan, Mich.) had 11. Kamp and junior Sara Kramer (Dyer, IN)
had three blocks each.

In the upset win over Ohio Northern, Calvin posted a team hitting percentage
of .333 led by Kamp and Kramer with Kamp hitting at a blistering .545 clip
while Kramer carried a .636 percentage. Kamp racked up 21 kills in 33 attack
attempts while collecting four blocks and four digs. KRamer had seven kills and
four blocks. Junior Rachel DeYoung (Unity Christian HS) also had a huge match
with nine kills and an aattack percentage of .400.

As a team, Calvin collected 33 digs led by senior Lauren DeGroot (Tulare, CA)
with 12 and junior Kelsey Sears (Traverse City West HS) with seven. Bruskewitz
came up with 20 assists while Nelson had 19 with each setter also collecting
two service aces.

Calvin returns to action at the Ohio Northern Inviational tomorrow when it
faces Carnegie-Mellon and Mount St. Joseph.

Tournament website:
http://www-new.onu.edu/athletics/womens_teams/volleyball/2008_onu_invitational

MEN'S SOCCER
(Written by Bruce VanBaren '09)

Sophomore Scott Hooker (Hudsonville/Unity Christian) netted a penalty kick as
Calvin snuck past Goshen 1-0 in Friday’s season opener in the Cal Bergsma
Memorial Tournament. Calvin will host Aquinas Saturday at 4 p.m. as the Knights
begin their six-game non-conference schedule.
The tournament honors Dr. Calvin Bergsma who died tragically in a car accident
during the summer of 2001. A 1967 graduate of Calvin, Bergsma was a West
Michigan urologist who was known as a kind-hearted man who cared deeply for
everyone. He had close family ties to both Hope and Calvin.

“A win is a win at this level,” said seventh-year coach Chris Hughes. “I
think we established ourselves after the first few minutes and again you have
to shake off some of that rust in the first game.”

Hooker, whose penalty kick came after senior Anthony Gratson
(Rochester/Rochester Stoney Creek) was upended trying to turn the corner along
the end line, deposited the penalty kick into the upper shelf for his first
goal of the season. A year ago Hooker co-led Calvin in goals with nine and was
named to the All-MIAA first team.

Calvin outshot the Maple Leafs 14-7, but Goshen controlled most of the
possession in the second half. Goal Keeper Darrin Cline
(Grandville/Grandville), who begins his second year as starter after being
named to the All-MIAA second team a year ago, recorded five saves.
“Our handling speed was a little slow today,” said Hughes. “Legs are
tired; they just came off of duel workouts, [it’s the] first game and the
grass was thick. There are all these fun excuses you can bring up, but really
the handling speed is not there yet and that’s something we addressed and
will continue to address and it will become better.”

The Knights return nine of 11 starters, but Hughes still experimented with
several different lineups as the defending MIAA champion Knights get set for
their conference opener against Albion on September 24 at Zuidema Field.

“We’re going to take [this win] and run,” said Hughes. “A game like
today we’ve got options, we’re trying different people in different places
and I think it’s a pretty good start.”

Hughes started freshman Miles Colago (Anoka, MN/Anoka) at the center mid-field
position that co-goal leader Nick Capisciolto vacated. Starting senior forward
Michael Holwerda (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian), who also co-led the
Knights in goals a year ago, also played significant minutes at the position.

“That position is pretty important at this level and we’re always looking
for different options,” said Hughes. “We tried Miles there, we tried a
couple of other guys there and we’re trying to find somebody that will stick.
I think we have some options in there, but we’re trying to put that puzzle
together right now and we’re getting closer.”

Hughes also juggled different combinations at the forward positions where
Holwerda and Hooker led Calvin’s league best offense to 50 goals last year.
Each is coming off a nine goal and seven assist season and each was named to
the All-MIAA first team.

“Nothing is set in stone,” said Hughes. “We’ve got options and we can
move those kids around and I’m just glad Michael and Scott play on our
team.”

Senior Dan Van Slyke (Grove City, PA/Grove City) and Gratson started at the
outside midfield positions, but junior Alex McKenzie and sophomore Kurt
VanSickel also saw significant minutes.

Calvin’s defensive lineup, which allowed a league best nine goals a year ago
and helped senior Darrin Cline (Grandville/Grandville) to a 0.60 goals against
average, ranked 21st in the nation, does however appear set in stone.

Junior sweeper Greg Snapper (Madison, WI/Madison West) and junior stopper Luke
Holtrop (Hudsonville/Unity Christian) and sophomore outside back Kyle Billin
(Hudsonville/Unity Christian) played the entire game while sophomore Lucas
Wilgenburg (Visalisa, CA/Central Valley Christian) was subbed only briefly.

Calvin hosts Aquinas tomorrow as Goshen heads to Hope. Hope topped Aquinas 5-2
in Holland on Friday. Calvin last won the Cal Bergsma Memorial Tournament in
2006, while Hope won the first two tournaments in 2001 and 2002. Wheaton, whom
Calvin will play next weekend, is the defending champion.

An audio interview with Chris Hughes can be found on-line at:
http://www.calvin.edu/sports/audio/ChrisHughes082908.mp3

WOMEN'S SOCCER

ST. LOUIS, MO -- Calvin suffered a heart-breaking 3-2 defeat in sudden-death
overtime to the host Bears of Washington University Friday night in a matchup
of nationally-ranked teams. Host Washington entered its own Washington
University Classic ranked ninth in the most recent National Soccer Coaches
Association Division III Top 25 poll while Calvin came in ranked 19th.

The Bears grabbed a 1-0 lead with a goal in the ninth minute of play but the
Knights answered with a goal by sophomore Elaine Schnabel (Chesterton, IN) off
a feed from junior Natalie Veurink (Western Michigan Christian HS) in the 24th
minute to tie the game 1-1.

Calvin jumped ahead 2-1 on a give-and-go play between sophomores Kellie
Honderd and Carly Prins of Unity Christian High School with Prins setting
Honderd up for a shot that found the far corner of the net.

The Bears came back to tie the game in the closing minutes of regulation as
Caryn Rosoff headed in a throw-in with 8:26 left on the clock. Seven minutes
into the first overtime, Rosoff struck again for the game-winning golden goal
ripping in a shot off the crossbar that deflected off Calvin junior goalkeeper
Kayla Sulzer (St. Charles, MO) and into the net.

Washington finished with a 15-7 shots at goal advantage including an 8-3
advantage in the second half. Junior goalkeeper Alyssa Bergsma (Calvin
Christian HS) had one save in one half of play while Sulzer had two saves.

Calvin returns to action tomorrow at the Washington University Classic with
the Knights facing Transylvania at 7:00 p.m. (EST). Transylvana won its opener
on Friday, defeating Hope 2-1.

MEN'S GOLF

BATTLE CREEK -- The Calvin men's golf team is in 13th place after one day of
competition at the Olivet College Lou Collins Classic with a team score of 318
strokes. Olivet is hosting the 36-hole tournament at the Bedford Valley Country
Club with one 18-hole round left to be played on Saturday.

Calvin's top finisher on Friday was sophomore Eric Doezema (Grand Rapids
Christian HS) who fired a round of 72, leaving him in a five-way tie for second
place heading into Saturday's competition.

The remainder of Calvin's lineup was rounded out by junior Jon Kuiper (Grand
Rapids Christian HS) and sophomore Jess Hendriksma (Grand Rapids Christian HS)
with rounds of 81 while junior Tyler Smies (Sheboygan, WI) had an 84 and junior
Kyle Harvey (Willard, OH) an 88.

Host Olivet currently leads the tournament with a team score of 295. Mark
McLaughlin of Albion sits in first place individually with a score of 71.

TOURNAMENT WEBSITE:
http://www.olivetcollege.edu/athletics/mgolf/stats/0809/lou_collins/

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Sat Aug 30 00:19:05 2008