CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR November 7, 2009
Men's Soccer Captures MIAA Title With 1-0 Win Over Hope - Headed to NCAAs;
Super Soccer Saturday for Heethuis Family;
Volleyball Upsets Hope in MIAA Tournament Finals - Headed to NCAAs;
Swimming and Diving Teams Split Dual Meets With Wheaton
MEN'S SOCCER
Calvin 1, Hope 0
(written by sports information student assistant Derek Neice)
GRAND RAPIDS—In what could be called the game of the year so far for Calvin
Saturday afternoon at Grand Rapids Christian High School, the Knights added
another chapter in their rivalry with Hope by defeating the Flying Dutch 1-0,
capturing their third straight MIAA title and obtaining an automatic bid to the
national tournament.
A match that certainly held a lot of emotion on both sides, Saturday’s
contest would prove to be sweet for the Knights after having lost a
heartbreaker to Hope by the same score earlier this season at Hope’s Van
Andel Soccer Stadium.
Besides the lone goal, a first half strike by junior forward Brad Heethuis
(Jenison, MI), the story of the game was in Calvin goalkeeper Ryan Bratt
(Silver Spring, MD). Bratt, a 6-foot-6 junior, got his first-ever start in
goal Saturday due to lingering injuries to Jared Rushlau (Grandville, MI) and
Michael Dolan (Casco, MI).
Bratt finished the match with a stellar performance, making five huge saves
over the course of the game that kept Hope from equalizing.
“Bratt was a beast.” Calvin coach Chris Hughes said emphatically after the
game, “the guys rallied around him, before the game they were excited that he
was in the net, and he [Bratt] did what he needed to do. I was very happy with
his play today.
Calvin came out strong and finished strong, out-shooting Hope 19-10 overall
with the Dutch having the shots-on-goal advantage, 5-4. Heethuis knocked in
the only goal of the game in the seventh minute of play, his fourth and most
important goal of the season.
The goal resulted from an early Calvin corner kick. Junior midfielder Dan
Kmetz (Strongsville, OH) looped the ball to the far side of the box off the
corner kick, where fellow junior Kyle Billin controlled and sent in a quick
pass on the ground, past a couple Hope defenders and across the middle of the
box. Heethuis was first onto the scene, shooting the ball past the Hope keeper
and giving Calvin the lead. Kmetz and Billin were attributed the double
assist.
“I just wanted to get a shot on the net and give it a chance to go in,”
Heethuis explained about how he approached the ball to shoot, “Kyle [Billin]
played a great ball across and I was just looking to get a good shot.”
Hope would rally with a string of chances in the second half to keep everyone
on their toes, but to no avail, as Calvin’s defense once again proved its
metal in preserving the shutout victory.
“They are just rock solid,” Bratt said of Calvin’s defense, “It adds a
lot to my confidence for sure in having guys like Snapper and Wilgenburg
stopping almost everything that comes through, and they played great today.”
“We are all just absolutely ecstatic now with this win,” Bratt concluded,
“It’s a great feeling.”
With the win Calvin will now play in the NCAA Division III national
tournament, something that Hughes said he won’t even start thinking about
right now. For the moment, he’s going to relish Saturday’s victory.
“I’m very proud of these kids in being able to pull through today,”
Hughes continued, “Hope has a fantastic program with some true warriors, so
tons of kudos to the effort they put in today.”
“We always thought this could be ours but we had to prove it,” Hughes
said, “and we were able to put one more ball in their net than they put in
ours.”
MORE MEN'S SOCCER
By Calvin Sports Information Director Jeff Febus
What a day for the Heethuis family. On Saturday, Calvin junior striker Brad
Heethuis scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Hope that allowed the Knights
to capture their consecutive MIAA title and gain an automatic bid to the NCAA
III Tournament. Meanwhile, Brad's father Randy Heethuis was busy leading his
Unity Christian boys soccer team to a Division II state title Saturday
afternoon as the Crusaders defeated Petoskey 2-0 in the championship game.
Randy Heethuis is a 1984 Calvin College graduate who was a member of Calvin's
1981 and 1982 MIAA championship men's soccer teams.
Both games took place at the same time, keeping father and son apart during
the action but certainly not in spirit. "Winning both games is pretty nice,"
said Brad Heethuis. "It was unfortunate that we had to miss each other's games
but the results were great. I'm really happy for my father. It's exciting no
doubt."
The game-winning goal by Brad Heethuis was also exciting as it came off a set
piece with junior Dan Kmetz delivering a perfectly placed corner kick to the
far side of the field that was collected by junior Kyle Billin
(Hudsonville/Unity Christian HS) and then slotted to Heethuis who blasted a low
hard shot through a scrum of players just inside the left post 6:04 into the
match. The goal was the fourth of the year for Heethuis including his third
game-winner of the year.
"We've been practicing that play over and over this week," said Brad. "We had
it nailed in our heads pretty good and I'm glad it worked out. Our win today
was a total team effort. It feels great."
VOLLEYBALL
By Calvin Sports information Student Assistant Andrew Knot
In its first two meetings, Calvin dropped matches to archrival Hope in the
MIAA regular season. At Hope’s DeVos Fieldhouse, the Dutch swept the Knights
in three sets. At the return trip in Calvin’s VanNoord Arena, Calvin dropped
the match in five sets, disappointingly dropping the final two sets.
On Saturday, November 7, the two met in the MIAA championship, with Calvin
plagued with injury and sickness the Knights beat the odds and upset the Flying
Dutch, who were previously ranked #5 in the country.
The third time’s a charm.
Calvin’s star middle hitter Rebecca Kamp wasn’t 100% because of an injury.
Defensive specialists Jen Pluymert and Kelli Peterson were both sidelined,
Pluymert with sickness and Peterson recovering from an injury.
Hope entered the championship final with a 30-2 record, as well as a perfect
16-0 mark in regular season conference play. Calvin was 26-6.
Throw out the records in rivalry games.
Calvin dropped the first set, losing 25-15 in a disheartening performance. In
the first set, the Knights were dominated at the net and trailed 9-1 at one
point.
It’s never over ‘til it’s over.
“Everyone stepped up. Our seniors were unwilling to let our season end.
We’ve waited two and a half months for this desire, fight, and heart,” said
Coach Amber Warners.
It’s all about heart.
But this game was more than any trite, overused expression. The Knights
entered the match with the odds against them and triumphed over their
archrival.
Calvin responded to what looked to be a heartbreaking loss in the first set
with a 25-23 victory in the second set, with a Lizzie Kamp roll shot sealing
the victory for the Knights.
In the third set, Calvin found themselves in an early deficit. Trailing
21-14, Calvin crept back into the set, until Hope responded by staking a 23-20
lead. Calvin then battled back, scoring five unanswered points in to steal the
pivotal third set. Calvin fought back with Katie Corbett making defensive
plays from her knees; Erin VanderPlas crushing a huge kill, a monster double
block, and a Renee DeHaan tip kill.
Calvin had been here before. They let a 2-1 set lead slip in their last clash
with Hope. This time, something was different.
“We have to play every point every day,” said senior Kelsey Sears.
Sears’ attitude was reflected in her team, who came out with a will to win
in the fourth and final set.
“It was great to see us not be satisfied after the third set. We kept
fighting until it was all done,” added Coach Warners.
With an increased air of confidence the Knights took the court in the fourth
set, determined to finish the match. Calvin came out of the gate strong,
taking an early 12-4 lead, forcing a Hope timeout.
Despite a few minor runs from the Dutch, Calvin stepped up. Every aspect of
team harmonized, resulting in a Calvin masterpiece to the tune of a 25-13
victory.
Thunderous kills from the Kamp sisters created Calvin’s winning margin,
Kelsey Sears’ diving one handed dig preserved Calvin’s lead, and Nora
Bruskewitz’s distribution kept the Calvin offense clicking.
When Hope’s final attack skipped off the top of the net and out of bounds,
no cliché could say it.
Only one thing could: MIAA Tournament Champions.
“We are right where we want to be. We are peaking at the right time,”
said Sears.
The Knights now enter the NCAA III tournament via the MIAA tournament
championship automatic bid.
“To pull this off against our rival in their court ranks way up there,”
said Warners.
No matter how you say it, Calvin’s MIAA tournament championship was more
than a cliché.
MEN'S AND WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING
The Calvin men's and women's swimming and diving teams split non-conference
dual meets with visiting Wheaton Saturday afternoon at the Venema Aquatic
Center.
In the women's meet, Calvin defeated the Thunder 154-140 to improve to 1-1 in
dual meet action. In the men's meet, Calvin fell to Wheaton 171-117 to fall to
0-2 on the year.
Recording victories for the Calvin women were freshman Stephanie Fox in the
200 freestyle (1:56.70) and 100 freestyle (53.99), senior Maggie Vail in the
100 breaststroke (1:07.23) and 200 breaststroke (2:27.03), freshman Rachel
Colasurdo in the 200 butterfly (2:18.20) and senior Casey Herman in the
one-meter (254.70) and three-meter (229.65) diving competitions.
Picking up victories for the Knights in the men's meet were freshman Mathias
Bares in the 1,000 freestyle (10:24.78) and 500 freestyle (5:06.65), senior
Kurt Van Allsburg in the 50 freestyle (22.36) and freshman Evan Bronson in the
one-meter (183.00) and three-meter (148.27) diving competitions.
Received on Sat Nov 7 21:45:21 2009
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