CSR (Calvin Saturday Sports Report for Oct. 24, 2009)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR OCT. 24, 2009

Volleyball Pulls Out Five-Set Thriller at Alma;
Men's Soccer Shuts Out Olivet 2-0
Swimming and Diving Teams Compete at MIAA Relays

VOLLEYBALL
Calvin 3, Alma 2 (17-25, 25-15, 23-25, 26-24, 18-16)

ALMA – Calvin remained in the MIAA title hunt with an epic five-set victory
at Alma on Saturday afternoon at Alma’s Cappaert Gymnasium. After falling
behind two sets-to-one, Calvin pulled out a 26-24 win in set four and an 18-16
win in set five.

Calvin is now 3-0 in five-set matches this year, having also defeated Trine in
five sets in an MIAA match and Southwestern of Texas in a non-conference tilt.

Sophomore Rebecca Kamp (Orland Park, IL/Chicago Christian HS) nearly produced
a triple-double for the Knights in the victory, recording 25 kills, 21 digs and
seven block assists. Senior libero Kelsey Sears (Traverse City/Traverse City
West HS) also collected 30 digs, recording her second 30-dig effort of the
year.

Sophomore Erin VanderPlas (Cadillac/McBain Christian HS) also had a huge match
with 15 kills, seven block assists and seven digs. Sophomore Renee DeHaan
(Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) also had 10 kills and six block
assists. Senior setter Nora Bruskewitz (Milwaukee, WI/Milwaukee Lutheran HS)
had a career-high 58 assists in the win.
The victory sets up a showdown for first place in the MIAA standings as the
Knights, ranked 13th nationally, are now 12-1 in MIAA play and 20-5 overall.
Hope leads the league with a 13-0 conference record and will travel to Calvin
on Wednesday for a 6:30 p.m. match.

MIAA VOLLEYBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 10-24-09

Hope 13-0
Calvin 12-1
Alma 9-5
Albion 7-7
Trine 6-7
Saint Mary’s 5-8
Kalamazoo 4-9
Olivet 2-11
Adrian 2-12

MEN’S SOCCER
Calvin 2, Olivet 0
(written by sports information student assistant Andrew Knot)

On a damp, gray day at Zuidema field, the Knights prevailed over Olivet to
remain atop the MIAA.
The Knights entered the game ranked 18th in the D3soccer.com poll and 21st in
the National Soccer Coaches Division III poll.

In the 50th minute, Brad Heethuis received a Dan Kmetz cross at the top of the
eighteen and buried a shot into the bottom left corner of the net, putting
Calvin on top 1-0. The goal came after a first half in which each team
generated a few chances but couldn’t break the last line of defense and get
on the board.

“We will take goals whenever they come. I thought that if we played for 90
minutes, we could slowly break down Olivet’s back line,” said Coach Chris
Hughes.

As the game progressed, intensity grew higher and the physicality of play
increased. A total of 32 fouls were called, with only 12 of those against
Calvin. There were also 5 yellow-cards issued, three towards Olivet and two
towards Calvin.

With five minutes remaining in the game, Olivet began mounting an attack and
pressuring the Calvin defense, bringing goalkeeper Ethan Felsing well into
Calvin’s side of half-field. Both the Calvin defense and offense responded
in a big way. In the 89th minute, Alex McKenzie, executed a sly, brilliant
tackle on keeper Felsing, who was possessing the ball 30 yards outside of the
goal mouth. The tackle deflected the ball towards the goal and McKenzie
escorted the ball into the goal via a five foot pass.

That goal marked McKenzie’s seventh on the year and solidified the Calvin
victory, completing a regular season sweep of Olivet on the season. The
victory also keeps Calvin on top of the MIAA. Calvin now holds an 8-1-1
record in conference play.

“We need consistency. We need to finish out every game; we can’t look
past anyone,” said Hughes, regarding the remainder of the year.

Calvin returns to the field next Tuesday, hosting Albion.

MIAA MEN’S SOCCER STANDINGS THROUGH 10-24-09

Calvin 8-1-1
Hope 7-1-2
Kalamazoo 5-4-1
Albion 5-5-0
Olivet 4-4-2
Trine 4-5-1
Adrian 2-5-3
Alma 0-10-0

MEN’S AND WOMEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING
(Written by Calvin Sports information student assistant Derek Niece)

On the second day of weekend events for Calvin’s Swim and Dive Team, the
Knights came out strong Saturday in their first conference home meet of the
season. With a great turnout of fans at Calvin’s Venema Aquatic Center, the
un-scored relay meet would show many of the teams where they stand amidst the
competition of the MIAA.

“It was a good meet for this time of year,” Coach Gelderloos said,
“we’re still getting to know each other and who we swim and what we
swim so it was good to have a low stress situation and just see where we’re
at.”

The men finished in the middle of the pack, with some promising 4th place
finishes in the 200 breast relay with a time of 1:59.31 and in the 200 fly
relay with a time of 1:37.66.

Of the men, Gelderloos said, “They’re making really good strides in the
right direction.”

Calvin’s women were the ones who made headlines Saturday though as they swam
their way to first place finishes in every single race except for one, a race
that Calvin would take second place.

Calvin took first in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:52.20, in the 200
back relay with a time of 1:52.43, in the 200 breast relay with a time of
2:06.07, in the 500 free relay with a time of 4:47.25, in the 200 fly relay
with a time of 1:50.37, in the 1500 free relay with a time of 16:17.09, and in
the 400 medley relay with a time of 4:15.46. They took second in the last
women’s relay of the day, the 200 free relay, with a time of 1:41.96, only
.29 seconds behind the first place Hope team.

Gelderloos really liked what he saw from his women Saturday afternoon.

“Our women looked really strong in the meet today,” said Gelderloos,
“and overall it was a lot of fun to be able to get a chance to see what
everyone else has in terms of conference competition.”

Gelderloos concluded, “All in all I think we formed up to expectations.”

The next meet for the Knights will be held on November 7th at Wheaton
College.
Received on Sat Oct 24 21:17:46 2009