CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR NOVEMBER 12, 2010
Volleyball Advances to Regional Final With Win Over Heidelberg - To Face
Wittenberg;
Men's Soccer Advances to Regional Final With Win Over ONU - To Face
Dominican;
Women's Soccer Falls to Otterbein in First Round of NCAA III Tournament
VOLLEYBALL
Calvin 3, Heidelberg 0 (25-18, 16-25, 25-18, 25-19)
(Written by Sports Information Student Assistant Mitch Blankespoor)
SPRINGFIELD, OH - The Calvin College Knights volleyball team had seen this
before. They had won the first round of the NCAA Division III volleyball
tournament in straight sets. Last year, Calvin defeated Wittenberg in three
sets only to fall to rival Hope in the second round. This year’s team was
determined to not meet the same fate. The Knights were up against the number
one ranked team in the region; Heidelberg College. Calvin did not meet the
same fate, as it rolled to a four set victory over “The Berg” by scores of
25-18, 16-25, 25-18, 25-19.
The first set started off similar for Calvin. A couple of service errors kept
Heidelberg in the game. It was tied at nine when Lizzie Kamp stepped up to the
service line. She rattled off four straight points including an ace to give
the Knights the lead. That was enough to keep the lead as Calvin cruised to a
first set victory.
Heidelberg got out to a 6-1 lead with the help of a service run from Rachel
Ferguson. That lead held till 12-7 when Calvin head coach Amber Warners called
a timeout. The Knights came out of the timeout with kills from Renee DeHaan
and Rebecca Kamp. Heidelberg then went on a 8-5 run to increase their lead to
21-14 forcing another timeout call. This time the timeout proved to be less
effective as Heidelberg took the second set.
“We played with confidence during every point” Rebecca Kamp said after the
match.
Calvin did just that starting the third set. A couple of three point service
runs from Kelly Peterson and Lizzie Kamp gave the Knights a 7-2 lead forcing a
timeout call from Heidelberg head coach Jason Miller. The third set got as
close as 15-12. Then Rebecca Kamp recorded three kills the next four points,
and the third set was history. Calvin was now a set away from reaching the
sweet sixteen, a place the Knights had not been since 2006.
The fourth set opened up similar to the third set. Megan Rietema went on a
service tear that featured back-to-back aces to give Calvin a 7-1 lead. “The
Berg” was not finished just yet. After a timeout by head coach Jason Miller,
they went on a 11-4 run to take the lead 12-11. The Knights were resilient.
Steadily increasing their lead, Calvin got ahead by five points at 20-15 and
did not look back.
Calvin ended the day hitting a .263 clip while holding Heidelberg to only
.110. The Knights had four aces and 15 service errors while Heidelberg had
sevens aces and seven service errors. Calvin totaled nine team blocks while
their opponenets only had three.
The real story of the day was the passing of Calvin.
“I thought our serve receive was spot on” coach Warners said after the match.
The defense read Heidelberg’s hitters very well for how quick their attack
is.”
Calvin advances to the regional final where it will play host #2-ranked
Wittenberg which defeated Hope in straight sets Friday nights. Saturday’s
regional final match will be played at 7:00 Eastern Standard Time at
Wittenberg’s Pam Evans Smith Arena.
Saturday’s match will mark the third time that Calvin and Wittenberg have met
in a regional final with Wittenberg winning the two prior meetings – the first
coming in 2005 at Wittenberg and the second coming in 2006 at Calvin.
MEN'S SOCCER
Calvin 2, Ohio Northern 0
By sports information student assistant Andrew Knot
With a 2-0 victory over Ohio Northern on Friday, the Knights advanced to the
second round of the NCAA tournament.
After a very competitive opening to the game, Calvin drew first blood.
Sophomore Tyler Vegter punched in the rebound off of a Scott Hooker shot.
But the Polar Bears were not without opportunity. Senior Ryan Bratt made two
crucial saves between the pipes, one with an attacker screening him.
The game continued at a fast pace, with furious back and forth. But neither
team could break the status quo, and the score remained 1-0. Thanks especially
to their staunch defense; the Knights took their potential shut-out into
half-time.
Both teams game out strong out of the break, but it was Calvin who would prove
stronger. Calvin peppered the Polar Bear’s net with opportunities. Finally,
in the 67th minute, Miles Colago redirected a Mike Sanderson throw-in to give
Calvin a 2-0 advantage.
That lead would suffice for the Knights. The back line barely conceded any
50-50 balls in the second half and leaving Bratt virtually unchallenged in the
net.
Calvin’s fresh legs also benefited the Knights in the final ten minutes of the
game. Calvin played 18 men to Ohio Northern’s 15.
“I think we came ready to play today,” said Coach Chris Hughes. He continued,
“We found ways to win.”
Hughes also acknowledged the advantages of last year’s post-season run.
“This isn’t new to the team. They understood the pressure of the game,” he
said.
Calvin will face Dominican in a second round NCAA III Tournament game at 1
p.m. at Calvin’s Zuidema Field Saturday afternoon. The game will feature of a
rematch of last year’s national semifinal contest in San Antonio, Texas, which
Calvin won by a 1-0 score.
WOMEN'S SOCCER
Otterbein 1, Calvin 0
WESTERVILLE, OH - The 2010 season came to a close for the Calvin women's
soccer team as it dropped a heart-breaking 1-0 loss to third-ranked Otterbein
College on Friday. The host Cardinals (19-0-1) scored the only goal of the game
with just 4:47 left in regulation. The game-winning goal came on a header by
Otterbein's Jenny Knox as she redirected a corner kick into the back of the
net.
Calvin (15-3-2) battled Otterbein on even terms throughout the game but was
unable to dent the back of the net. Calvin's best chance in the first half came
on a header by senior Carly Prins (Hudsonville/Unity Christian HS) that was
saved by Otterbein goalkeeper Tara Carter.
Calvin came close early in the second half as two rips by senior Kellie
Honderd (Hudsonville/Unity Christian HS) were saved by Carter as was a shot by
senior Lauren Heyboer (Kalamazoo/Kalamazoo Christian HS). Calvin also took
three corner kicks in a five-and-a-half minute span midway through the second
half with Prins uncorking a shot off one corner that was unable to get through
a scrum of defenders.
Otterbein then took its fourth corner kick of the match just inside the final
five minutes of regulation and Knox was able to outleap the Calvin defense to
head in the game-winner.
Otterbein finished the game with an 8-6 shots at goal advantage. Calvin
freshman goalkeeper Ashton Hearn (Port Huron, MI/Port Huron Northern HS) had a
strong game in nets for the Knights with five saves while Carter had four saves
for the Cardinals. Both teams had four corner kicks.
The game marked the final collegiate soccer games for Calvin seniors Kellie
Honderd, Lauren Heyboer, Stephanie Malburg (Grand Rapids/Forest Hills Northern
HS), Carly Prins and Elaine Schabel (Chesterton, IN/Chesterton HS). All five
seniors started on Saturday and were playing in the NCAA III Tournament for the
fourth consecutive year.
Received on Fri Nov 12 21:41:03 2010
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