CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR SEPTEMBER 17, 2011
Cross Country Teams Take First Place at Calvin Knight Invite;
Men’s Soccer Nips Madonna On Late Goal by Dino Duratovic;
Volleyball Remains Unbeaten after 4-0 Performance at Wittenberg Great Lakes
Regional Challenge
MEN’S AND WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
WOMEN’S RECAP
(by Mark DeHaan)
Running at home for the only time this season, the women's cross country team
looked to impress the home crowd on Saturday, and they did just that.
Lead by senior Jodi Hoekstra, who ran a 17:29.30, the Knights were able to
blow away their competition away by scoring only 27 points.
The second place team, Ohio Northern, scored 66 points on the day. Hoekstra,
who finished in first place, was followed closely behind by junior Alyssa
Penning, who finished in second with a 17:33.90.
The key for Calvin was its ability to finish their top five all within one
minute of each other as senior Kaitlin Diemer, junior Christine Hartley, and
sophomore Alyssa Oram ran times of 18:07.20, 18:17.90, and 18:27.80,
respectively.
“The women showed that they've done their work over the summer,” said head
coach Brian Diemer. “It will be interesting to see how the season goes when
(the team) starts running on all cylinders. Jodi and Alyssa are so strong. That
1-2 punch is going to be formidable. The chase pack is also very strong. That
top five seals the deal. They were only a minute behind the top two, who are
top 10 in the country material.”
Rounding out the top seven runners for Calvin was senior Eva Kort, who ran a
time of 18:35.50, and freshmen Kate Ardinger, who ran a 18:45.80.
MEN’S RECAP
(by Andrew Knot)
With five runners in the top twelve, the Knights’ Men’s Cross Country team
opened the season with a commanding victory at the 2011 Knight Invite held at
the Gainey Athletic Complex.
Junior Dan Kerr placed as the Knight’s top finisher with a third place result
and a time of 24:36.26. Classmate Matt Vander Roest finished fifth with a time
of 24:37.74. Greg Whittle rounded out Calvin’s single-digit finishers with a
sixth-place showing and a time of 24:52.75. Junior David Vande Bunte placed
tenth with a 25:09.21 time. Rhett Morici finished fifth for the Knights and
twelfth over all with a time of 25:11.42.
After tallying the top five finishers, Calvin totaled 37 points, 44 points
less than second place finisher Allegheny which came up with 81 points on the
afternoon.
Calvin’s strength wasn’t limited to the lead pack. Job Christiansen finished
16th overall and Nathan Frazier and Kevin Peterson finished 33rd and 34th.
“We had a very strong front pack running and a very good chase pack running as
well,” said Head Coach Brian Diemer. Diemer also noted the importance of
starting the season strong.
“This really sets the tone for the season. The team was very determined to
perform well and they did that today,” he added.
MEN’S SOCCER
Calvin 1, Madonna 0
The Knights claimed a dramatic victory in their second and final game of the
Cal Bergsma Memorial tournament, defeating Madonna by a score of 1-0.
With less than four minutes remaining, freshman Dino Duratovic snuck a ball
past Madonna’s keeper Adrian Motta to give the Knights a lead. Prior to that,
the Knights and Crusaders battled out a methodical, if not disjointed, game.
In the first half, each team recorded five shots, but neither was able to put
on in the back of the net. Junior Nick Holtrop bent a one-time shot towards
the left panel, but Motta stretched out to complete a spectacular save. The
game was scoreless at halftime.
With just under 40 minutes to go in regulation, senior Brad Heethuis had a
great left-footed shot on net that appeared to be going in but curved just
wide. Madonna, matching Calvin almost shot for shot, had the best opportunity
of the game with 13:08 remaining as freshmen George Sami was able to get out on
a breakaway for the Crusaders. Making his way into the box, Sami put a shot on
net that was saved by a sprawling Michael Dolan, and the score would stay at
0-0.
About 10 minutes later, with 3:32 left on the clock, that would change as
junior Dan Nederhood would make a run upfield into the defensive third of the
Crusaders. Nederhood would drop the ball off to Duratovic who would touch his
way past a defender and then put a shot to the near post that found the back of
the net. The goal, Duratovic's second on the season, would put Calvin up 1-0.
The Knights held off the Crusaders for the rest of the match, and would earn
the win. Calvin goalkeeper Michael Dolan made four saves in the win for the
Knights. The win puts the Knights at 5-2 on the season.
“It was a battle of midfields,” said Coach Chris Hughes. “We needed to be
patient and disciplined.”
For Hughes, Duratovic’s goal was an anticipated piece of leadership from “a
special player.”
“Dino brings a different element to our team. He is expected to find the back
of the net for us,” he said.
Calvin held a 12-9 shots at goal advantage.
Dolan finished with four saves for Calvin while Motta had five saves for
Madonna.
Calvin concluded the tournament in second place as Hope defeated Wheaton 4-0
Saturday night in Holland. Calvin and Hope both finished 2-0-0 in the weekend
tournament but Hope won the tournament based on goal differential as the
Flying Dutchmen outscored their weekend opponents by six goals while Calvin
outscored the opposition by two goals.
The Knights host Hope on Wednesday at 4 p.m. in a key MIAA contest at Calvin’s
Zuidema Field.
VOLLEYBALL
By Sports Information Student Assistant Mitch Blankespoor
The Calvin College women’s volleyball team looked to continue its season
without blemish. The Knights had made it through the first day of the Great
Lakes Regional Challenge which included a thrilling five-set victory over the
third-ranked Wittenberg Tigers. Calvin avoided the let down, and returned to
Grand Rapids with a 4-0 record.
The Knights first opponent of the day was the Heidelberg Student Princes; a
very familiar opponent for Calvin. A year ago, “The Berg” defeated Calvin in
five sets at this very same tournament before falling to Calvin in the regional
semifinal. Despite some uncharacteristic communication errors, the top-ranked
Knights defeated the Student Princes in four sets by scores of 25-11, 27-25,
19-25, 25-18.
Calvin was led by front row seniors Rebecca Kamp (Chicago Christian HS) and
Erin VanderPlas (Northern Michigan Christian HS) who had 15 and 10 kills
respectively. Sophomore Megan Rietema (Grand Rapids Christian HS) dished out
38 assists. Senior libero Kelly Peterson (Anoka HS) led the Knights with 11
digs.
“I thought we persevered through some difficult play. We need to step it up
against Ohio Northern.” Calvin head coach Amber Warners reflected after the
match.
Stepping it up is exactly what the Knights did. The Polar Bears of Ohio
Northern provided little resistance for the Knights. Calvin defeated Ohio
Northern in straight sets by scores of 25-14, 25-19, 25-16.
Rebecca Kamp led everyone with 15 kills. Erin Vander Plas and junior Lizzie
Kamp (Chicago Christian HS) each notched seven kills. Megan Rietema dished out
35 assists while Kelly Peterson added 14 digs. Calvin had a season high ten
team aces; three from the arm of junior Julia Hilbrands (Grand Rapids Christian
HS).
“I thought we played well. There are always things to improve on, and I’m
anxious to get back in the gym so we can get better as a team.” Warners said.
Rebecca Kamp, Lizzie Kamp, and Megan Rietema were named to the all-tournament
team.
Calvin will return to action on Tuesday when it faces the Comets of Olivet
College.
Received on Sat Sep 17 23:33:43 2011
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.8 : Sat Sep 17 2011 - 23:33:43 EDT