CSR (Women's BBall Upsets Fifth-Ranked Carthage/Soccer Players Receive All-Region Honors/VBall Highlights Video Now Online)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR DEC. 8, 2010
Women's Basketball Upsets Fifth-Ranked Carthage;
Five Calvin Men's Soccer Players Receive All-Central Region Honors;
NCAA III Volleyball Championships Highlights Video Now Online
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
By Sports Information Student Assistant Derek Neice
As non-conference play continues for the Knights here in this 2010-11 season,
Calvin underwent what looked to be its toughest tests thus far as the Knights
took on the fifth-ranked Carthage College Lady Reds. Coming into the game with
a 5-2 record, the Knights handed Carthage its first loss of the season [6-1]
with a decisive victory at home in the Van Noord Arena, winning by a score of
69-59.
Junior Jill Thomas (West Catholic HS) led the Knights with 17 points on 5-8
shooting, with four of those being from three point range. Sophomore Carissa
Verkaik (Holland, MI) also had a strong game as she put up her 15th collegiate
double-double with 14 points, 14 boards, and also 6 blocks.
As a team, Calvin connected on 13-of-26 from three-point range, establishing a
Van Noord Arena record for three-pointers made in a women’s game. The 13
triples are the highest total in a Calvin women’s basketball game since January
21, 2009, when the Knights were 14-of-28 from beyond the arc in an 81-63 win at
Olivet.
“The biggest thing we did tonight was we defended well in the first half in
holding Carthage to 23 points,” Coach John Ross said after the game. “But it
was also great to see all these threes go in and give our players a good boost
in confidence.”
In the first half, Calvin shot a blistering 53.8% from three point range on
7-of-13 shooting, contributing to a 46.2% overall field goal percentage
[12-26]. The game remained fairly close in that first frame, but Calvin used a
strong finish to lead 32-23 at the half.
In the second half the Knights continued to hit from distance, and the Knights
increased their lead to nearly twenty. But Carthage began to patiently creep
back, and with about seven minutes to go, the
Lady Reds only trailed by eight. At that stage of the game, junior transfer
Heather DeKleine (Unity Christian HS) came off the bench and hit three shots
from beyond the arc to put the Knights back comfortably ahead.
Again, Carthage began to come back, and with two and half minutes to go, the
Lady Red’s had again brought the deficit to single-digits as Calvin led 64-55.
But the Knights made sure not to give up the lead, managing to draw a couple of
fouls, run some clock, and finish the game out with the 69-59 win.
“We know Carthage has a great program and we play a ton of great teams,” Ross
said. “The key defensively is just to go back to what we’ve worked on in
practice and be a little tougher.”
“I like to put importance on every game,” Ross continued. “We’re still really
young and a game like today is really good for our confidence.”
DeKleine would finish with 9 points, and sophomore Kelsey Irwin (Fraser, MI)
also added 9, with both players hitting a trio of threes each. Heather Gilmore
led Carthage with 13 points and six rebounds while Diana Jacklin had nine
points. As a team, Calvin blocked a season-best 13 shots. Sophomore Julia
Hilbrands (Grand Rapids Christian HS) blocked five shots off the bench to go
with eight rebounds and three points.
Wednesday’s game was the sixth meeting between Calvin and Carthage in women’s
basketball in a series Calvin now leads 4-2.
The win pushes Calvin to 6-2 on the year, and the Knights are back in action
on December 11th as they travel to take on the Kalamazoo Hornets in a
conference matchup at the Anderson Athletic Center. That game will begin at 3
p.m.
MEN'S SOCCER
Five members of the Calvin men's soccer team have been named to National
Soccer Coaches Association of America Division III All-Central Region soccer
teams as sponsored by Performance Subaru.
Named to the first team from Calvin are senior Dan Kmetz and junior Justin
Ahearne while junior Miles Colago has been named to the second team and seniors
Ryan Bratt and Scott Hooker named to the third team.
As members of the first team, Kmetz and Ahearne are now eligible for NSCAA
Division III All-America consideration.
A native of Strongsville, Ohio, Kmetz (Strongsville High School) is making his
second straight appearance on the All-Central Region first team. A midfielder,
Kmetz ignited Calvin's offensive attack from his central midfielder's position
with Calvin outscoring the opposition 45-12 this fall. Kmetz finished the year
with seven points on the strength of one goal and five assists. He was also
named to the All-MIAA first team during the year.
Ahearne is from Hudsonville and is a graduate of Hudsonville High School. An
outside defensive back, Ahearne helped the Calvin defense post 15 shutouts this
fall and record a team goals-against-average of 0.48. He also developed into a
strong scoring threat, collecting six goals and one assist for a total of 13
points that put him third on the Calvin team scoring list. During the year, he
was named MIAA Offensive Player of the Week once. He was also named to the
All-MIAA first team during the year.
Colago hails from Anoka, Minnesota. A defensive back out of Anoka High School,
Colago was a strong presence on Calvin's defensive backline while also
providing steady support to the Calvin offensive attack. He scored four goals
and picked up one assist during the year for a total of seven points. He scored
a goal in Calvin's 2-0 first round NCAA III Tournament victory over Ohio
Northern and then tallied the game-tying goal in Calvin's second round NCAA III
Tournament game against Dominican University. In a third round NCAA III
Tournament game against Wisconsin-Whitewater, he ripped in the game-winning
penalty kick in an epic 9-8 Calvin shootout victory win. Colago was also named
to the All-MIAA first team during the year.
Hooker is from Hudsonville and he is a graduate of Unity Christian High
School. A midfielder, Hooker is receiving All-Region honors for the third
consecutive year. During the season, Hooker finished second on the Calvin squad
in scoring with 14 points on the strength of four goals and six assists. One of
his goals was a memorable score in the closing minutes of a critical 1-0
victory at Olivet on October 27. He also converted a game-winning penalty kick
goal in a 2-1 win over Albion on November 3. He was also named to the All-MIAA
first team at the conclusion of the 2010 MIAA season.
Bratt is from Silver Spring, Maryland. He is a graduate of Washington
Christian Academy. He is receiving all-region accolades for the first time. A
goalkeeper, Bratt posted a won-loss record of 16-3-5 this year along with a
goals-against-average of 0.50. He collected 74 saves during the season and
recorded 13 shutouts. An All-MIAA second team selection this fall, Bratt was
stellar in NCAA III Tournament play, recording shootout victories against both
Dominican University (second round) and Wisconsin-Whitewater (third round).
Bratt finished his Calvin career 4-0 in NCAA III Tournament shootout
situations.
Under the direction of head coach Chris Hughes, the Calvin men's soccer team
finished the 2010 season with an overall record of 16-3-5, earning a share of
the MIAA title with a 9-2-3 conference record. The Knights also advanced to the
NCAA III Tournament for the fourth straight year, reaching the national
quarterfinals before falling to Wisconsin-Oshkosh 1-0 in an "Elite Eight"
game.
VOLLEYBALL
An NCAA produced highlight video of the 2010 NCAA III Women’s Volleyball
Championships in St. Louis, Missouri, is now online. The video includes clips
from all seven matches played at Washington University of St. Louis including
Calvin’s victories over University of Massachusetts Boston, Juniata and Emory
University.
NCAA III VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS VIDEO:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05MrUb6RzEc
Received on Wed Dec 8 22:36:43 2010