CSR (Women's Basketball Defeats Kalamazoo/Dan Kmetz Named Men's Soccer All-American)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR DECEMBER 12, 2009

Women's Basketball Defeats Kalamazoo To Remain Unbeaten in MIAA Play
Dan Kmetz Named Third Team All-American by National Soccer Coaches Association
of America;
NCAA III Soccer Final Four Photo Gallery Now On-Line

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 78, Kalamazoo 35
(written by sports information student assistant Andrew Knot)

The Knights made a big statement in early conference play with a 78-35 victory
over Kalamazoo on Saturday afternoon.

Calvin, now 9-1 and 2-0 in conference, led 43-12 at half and outrebounded
Kalamazoo, now 0-8 and 0-3 in the MIAA, by a margin of 45-40.

Calvin broke the game wide open from the first minute of a game it never
trailed in.

Freshman Carissa Verkaik led the Knights with 18 points and 7 rebounds in just
16 minutes. She was an integral part of the Knights dominance in the paint,
outscoring the Hornets 32-10 there.

Freshman Kelsey Irwin contributed 9 points off of 3-6 three-point shooting.
Junior Leah Morrison led the Knights with four assists.

Calvin recorded 17 steals and three blocks as a team. The Knights forced 25
Kalamazoo turnovers and created 28 points off of those turnovers.

“I was very pleased with our defensive performance in the first half. We
put a lot of pressure on Kalamazoo. I think we played our best half
defensively all year,” said Coach John Ross.

Ross was able to spread the wealth in the second half, with 13 players
receiving 10 points or more. Calvin also received 42 of its 78 points from the
bench.

"It is always good to keep getting people more minutes. I’m comfortable
that we can play a lot of people,” he continued.

Calvin returns to action next Saturday when it travels to Olivet for a 3 p.m.
contest.

MEN'S SOCCER

Calvin College junior midfielder Dan Kmetz has been named a third team
All-American by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. The award
was announced late Friday evening.

A native of Strongsville, Ohio, Kmetz is the first All-American in men's
soccer at Calvin since Kurt Visker was so honored in 2005. A graduate of
Strongsville High School, Kmetz is the fifth individual in Calvin men's soccer
history to earn All-America honors, joining Casey TerHaar (1962), Doug DeSmit
(1983), Joey Barone (1991) and Visker (2004 & 2005) to have been so honored.

A midfielder, Kmetz was a first team All-MIAA selection this fall. During the
2009 season, he was credited with four goals, five assists and 13 points. Three
of his four goals were game-winners including a score in a 2-1 regular season
win over Wheaton (IL) and a score in the closing minutes of a 3-2 win at Trine
that kept Calvin’s MIAA title hopes alive during the final week of the
regular season.

At the NCAA III Final Four this past weekend, Kmetz was named to the
all-tournament team.

Calvin has now had five of its athletes receive All-America status this fall
as Emily Ottenhoff was a second team All-American in women's soccer, Rebecca
Kamp (first team) and Kelsey Sears (third team) were All-Americans in
volleyball and Jessica Koster an All-American in women’s cross country.

Calvin Men's Soccer All-Americans
1962 Casey TerHaar
1983 Doug DeSmit
1991 Joey Barone
2004 Kurt Visker
2005 Kurt Visker
2009 Dan Kmetz

MORE MEN'S SOCCER

A photo gallery of the Calvin men's soccer trip to the NCAA III Final Four
last weekend is now available on the Calvin Web site at:
http://www.calvin.edu/gallery/FinalFour09

All of the photos were taken by Calvin parent Keith Nederhood who not only
documented Calvin's games in the Final Four, but also Calvin alumni functions
and a fan bus trip from Grand Rapids to San Antonio.
Received on Sat Dec 12 18:58:06 2009