CSR (Calvin Sports Report for Oct. 15, 2010)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR OCT. 16, 2010
 
Men's and Women's Cross Country Come Up Big At Oshkosh Invitational;
Volleyball Wins North Central Tiffany Robinson Memorial Invitational;
Men's Soccer Ties Adrian 1-1
 
MEN'S AND WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
 
WINNECONNE, WI - In a field of nationally-ranked teams, the Calvin men's and
women's cross country teams came up big Saturday morning at the
Wisconsin-Oshkosh Brooks Invitational.
 
On the men's side, eighth-ranked Calvin surprised the field by placing second
with a team score of 78 points, just 29 points behind top-ranked North Central
while also finishing ahead of second-ranked Washington University (MO),
seventh-ranked UW-Stevens Point, ninth-ranked NYU and 10th-ranked
UW-Whitewater. NYU took third with 138 points with Washington University fourth
(146 points) and UW-Stevens Point fifth (150 points).
 
Calvin placed three runners in the top seven led by junior Nick Kramer (Dyer,
IN/Illiana Christian HS) who was fourth (24:43), senior Ben Van Wyk (Sussex,
NJ/High Point HS) who was sixth (24:46) and senior Alex Wrobel (Arden Hills,
MN/Mounds View HS) who was seventh (24:47).
 
Sophomore Dan Kerr (Petoskey/Petoskey HS) was next for the Knights, placing
27th (25:11) while sophomore Rhett Morici (St. Charles, IL/St. Charles North
HS) was 40th (25:23). Rounding out Calvin's top seven were senior Jake
Christiansen (New Ipswich, NH/New Ipswich HS) in 56th (25:33) and sophomore Job
Christiansen (New Ipswich, NH/New Ipswich HS) in 59th (25:37). Sophomore Matt
VanderRoest (Ann Arbor, MI/Ann Arbor Huron HS) also took an important step
forward, placing 80th in a time of 25:46.
 
"Our men had a tremendous race," said Calvin head cross country coach Brian
Diemer. "Because of the loaded field, this meet was very much like a
pre-national race. It had a national caliber field and our guys were up to the
challenge. They ran with great heart and they worked together. Today's race was
a big test for our men and they passed with flying colors. Their performance
today was an important stepping-stone for the remainder of the year."
 
Calvin assistant coach Al Hoekstra agreed. "This might have been the most
important race our men have run since they won the national title in 2006,"
said Hoekstra. "Our team this year may not have the kind of talent that some of
our past teams have had but this team has great heart and a will to maximize
every ounce of potential that it has. I am so proud of every one of our guys
today. They were unbelievable. It was just exciting to watch."
 
On the women's side, Division II Minnesota-Duluth took first place with 89
points with 15th-ranked Chicago and seventh-ranked Wisconsin-Oshkosh tying for
second place with 116 points. 10th-ranked Calvin finished in fourth place, just
one point out of second as the Knights garnered 117 points. Hope, ranked 13th
nationally, was fifth with 142 points while fourth-ranked Washington University
(MO) was sixth with 165 points.
 
Junior Jodi Hoekstra (Homer Glen, IL/Chicago Christian HS) had Calvin's top
finish, placing eighth individually with a time of 21:59 followed by senior
Gretchen Braymer (Erie, PA/Collegiate Academy) in 12th (22:12), freshman Alyssa
Penning (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) in 28th (22:39), junior
Kaitlin Diemer (Caledonia/South Christian HS) in 31st (22:41), senior Samantha
Westveer (Kentwood/East Kentwood HS) in 38th (22:50), senior Alison Tuuk (Grand
Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) in 58th (23:05) and freshman Alyssa Oram
(Cheboygan, MI) in 61st (23:07).
 
"I thought we had a very solid performance in a very challenging field of
competitors," said Diemer. "We made a big move as a team over the last 800
meters or so and that really propelled us."
 
According to Hoekstra, the key to Calvin's push at the end was Kaitlin Diemer.
"Over the last kilometer of the race, Kaitlin was probably the fastest runner
on the course," said Hoekstra. "She was passing runners left and right which
was huge because she was holding down the back end of our pack. When she made
that push, it pushed the entire team forward. The fact that today's race was a
6K race was very important for our team. We are a strength-based team and our
strength came up big down the stretch. It was a very good day for Calvin cross
country."
 
Both Calvin cross country teams return to action on October 30, hosting the
MIAA Championships at the Gainey Athletic Complex.
 
VOLLEYBALL
 
NAPERVILLE, IL - The Calvin volleyball team took first place at the North
Central Collete Tiffany Robinson Memorial Tournament on Saturday, sweeping by
St. Mary’s (MN) 25-15, 25-22, 25-18 and Wheaton (IL) 25-19, 25-11, 25-15.
Calvin (19-3 overall) swept all four of its weekend matches, allowing it to
finish ahead of Hope in the final overall standings. Junior Rebecca Kamp and
sophomore Lizzie Kamp were both named to the all-tournament team.
 
On Friday night, Calvin defeated St. Norbert in three sets and host North
Central in three sets. On Saturday, Calvin continued the momentum by defeating
a Saint Mary’s (MN) team that had been receiving votes in the Division III Top
25 National Poll this past week. In the win over Saint Mary’s, Calvin received
11 kills from Rebecca Kamp, eight kills from junior Erin VanderPlas and seven
kills from Lizzie Kamp. Junior Renee DeHaan had a block solo and five block
assists while freshman Megan Rietema had 38 assists.
 
In the win over Wheaton, Rebecca Kamp had a monster match with 21 kills and an
attack percentage of .625. VanderPlas had nine kills and DeHaan eight kills.
Rietema had 33 assists, senior Carolyn Nelson six assists and junior Kelly
Peterson 10 digs.
 
Calvin will now break until Tuesday when it travels to Saint Mary’s (IN) for a
conference match slated to start at 7 p.m.
 
MEN'S SOCCER
Calvin 1, Adrian 1
 
(by sports information student assistant Derek Neice)
 
ADRIAN - On the road and against a tough Adrian team Saturday afternoon, the
Knights led early but were not able to hold on for a win, settling instead for
a 1-1 double overtime tie against the Bulldogs. Calvin created a number of
chances on goal but had trouble testing Adrian’s keeper with good shots, and
goalkeeper Ryan Bratt (Silver Spring, MD) also made some huge saves to keep
Calvin from falling behind.
 
“Bratt’s been huge and I have so much confidence in his ability,” said Hughes
of Bratt’s effort in goal. “He made a monster save, so the one he needed to
make, he made.”
 
“I don’t think they had very many point blank shots with a lot coming from
distance,” continued Hughes. “So the defense withheld well and the midline did
a good job once we got up and running, but it all starts with having confidence
in that goalkeeper, and we do.”
 
Miles Colago (Anoka, MN) opened the scoring up in the 16th minute after a
throw-in was flicked on by Justin Ahearne (Hudsonville, MI). The ball found
its way to Colago in the box, who then put a well-placed ball into the bottom
corner of the net.
 
The Knights would go into halftime up 1-0 from that goal, but both teams
playing pretty evenly throughout the first half as Adrian led the shot
advantage 7-4 and Calvin owned the lead.
 
In the second half Calvin started out well again but the lead would not
ultimately hold as Adrian equalized in the 75th minute when Billy Cremeans
(Portage, MI) found some open field on the right side and curled an impeccable
shot past Bratt and into the far post netting.
 
Both teams would fight to take, or retake the lead in Calvin’s case, but
regulation would end with the score still knotted. Overtime featured an
additional number of chances by both teams but the score would remain
unchanged.
 
“I thought we played well and I thought we had some good momentum in trying to
finish the game out,” said Coach Hughes after. “We learn from this and move
forward and we just have to find that way to get three points from here on
out.”
 
Adrian finished on top of the shot advantage 17-13 through regulation and the
two overtime periods. Bratt finished the game with 8 saves in keeping the
Knights from falling behind further. Calvin only managed to put two shots on
net, one being Colago’s goal.
 
The tie pushes Calvin’s league record to 4-1-3 (10-1-3 overall). The next
action for the Knights will come against Hope this upcoming Wednesday in
another rivalry contest. The Dutch were the first team to blemish Calvin’s
record, and they stand as the sole team to defeat the Knights thus far this
season. That match is set to begin at 4 p.m.
 
MIAA MEN'S SOCCER STANDINGS THROUGH 10-16-10 GAMES
 
Kalamazoo 6-2-0 (18 points)
Calvin 4-1-3 (15 points)
Adrian 4-2-2 (14 points)
Olivet 4-3-1 (13 points)
Trine 4-3-1 (13 points)
Hope 4-4-0 (12 points)
Albion 2-6-0 (6 points)
Alma 0-7-1 (1 point)
Received on Sun Oct 17 00:46:48 2010