CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR SEPT. 28, 2011
Volleyball Sweeps Hope In Showdown For First Place in MIAA;
Women's Soccer Edges Saint Mary's 2-1 on Last-Second Goal;
Men's Cross Country Ranked 3rd/Women's Cross Country Ranked 8th
VOLLEYBALL
Calvin 3, Hope 0 (26-24, 25-20, 25-16)
(written by sports information student assistant Andrew Knot)
The Knights extended their undefeated season with a three-set sweep over Hope.
Calvin took the match by scores of 26-24, 25-20, 25-16.
In the first set, Calvin took an early lead only to see the Dutch claw back
and capture a late lead. With freshman Jenna Grasmeyer at the service line,
the Dutch winnowed into Calvin’s lead and eventually took a 20-18 advantage
after consecutive kills from junior Nicole George and junior Jessica Maier.
Hope then extended its lead to 24-21. Senior Rebecca Kamp countered with a
kill for the Knights, a combo block with sophomore Megan Rietema, and a
stifling slam of an overpass to tie the score at 24. Sophomore Kristi Zietse
then gave the Knights the advantage with a clean ace and the Knights took set
point after a block from sophomore Megan Korber and Rebecca Kamp forced the
final point Calvin’s way.
With the momentum firmly on their side, the Knights jumped out to an 11-7 lead
in the second set and forced a timeout from Hope’s Coach Becky Schmidt. Calvin
extended its lead to 16-12 off a Rebecca Kamp kill but Hope sophomore Courtney
Earles responded with a slide kill to cut the Knights’ lead to 18-16. Senior
Erin VanderPlas elevated to pound a kill cross court and give the Knights a
20-16 advantage. On set point, Senior Renee DeHaan knocked a kill off the
block, along the tape and down to take the second set for the Knights.
In the third and final set, Calvin took another early lead. Lizzie Kamp
caught fire in the middle of the set, swinging hard cross court then line on
consecutive kills to give the Knights a 17-10 lead. Rebecca followed that with
a kill of her own and Calvin took the lead to 24-16 before Hope sophomore Mari
Schoolmaster concluded the match with service error.
Calvin Coach Amber Warners called serve receive “the difference in the
match.”
“We served aggressively and our passing got better each game,” she said.
Lizzie Kamp led the Knights with 13 kills, Rebecca Kamp added 10 and
VanderPlas had eight. Rietema dished out 32 assists among six different
attackers, effectively keeping the Hope defense on its heels.
“We like to spread out the ball a lot,” said Rietema.
For Rebecca Kamp, the match was an opportunity for the Knights to prove their
capabilities against their rival, something they failed to do on more than one
occasion last season.
“We finally did what we knew what we could do and played the way we know we
can play,” she said.
With the win, Calvin improved its record to 15-0 and 7-0 in conference. The
loss dropped Hope to 12-2 overall and 5-1 in the MIAA.
Calvin travels to Adrian next Tuesday.
WOMEN’S SOCCER
Calvin 2, Saint Mary’s 1
(written by sports information student assistant Mark DeHaan)
Coming off two strong wins against conference opponents, the Calvin women's
soccer team was looking to continue its win streak against the visiting Belles
of St. Mary's.
Fighting back and forth in the first half, neither team was able to put the
ball in the opposing team's net, putting the game at 0-0 at halftime.
Calvin held a 13-3 shots advantage at the half, however.
Early in the second half, the Knights were able to capitalize on one of those
shot opportunities as junior Francesca Smith netted her third goal in two games
to put the Knights up 1-0. Less than ten minutes later, it would be the Belles
who would put themselves on the board, tying up the Knights 1-1 on a
redirection play.
As she had earlier in the game, Smith continued to put shots on net, forcing
the Belles' freshmen keeper to make save after save. With just under ten
minutes remaining, fellow junior Liz Cancel put a shot on net that was tipped
just wide by the Saint Mary's goalie, keeping the score tied at one.
With the clock winding down, Calvin was able to win a throw-in deep in the
Belles' territory. A quick throw-in put the ball at the feet of Liz Cancel, who
crossed the ball into the box. The ball was knocked around before it found the
feet of freshman Sam Osterhaven who passed the ball to Francesca Smith. With
just :11 left on the clock, Smith put the ball into the back of the net for her
second goal of the game and provide a thrilling win for the young Knights.
The win moves the Knights to 4-5 overall and 4-1 in the MIAA, moving them up
to second place in the league behind 5-1-0 Alma. Lauren Merz earned the win in
net for the Knights.
“We missed a number of opportunities early on. We came out flat in the second
half, but we did some subbing, found the better rhythm, and now we've won three
games in a row,” said Head Coach Mark Recker. “This sets up the mental
framework much better for our tough set of games ahead, starting on the road
against Adrian. It was disappointing to give up an equalizer, but we are
learning and young, and this is another positive swing forward.”
The Knights will travel to Adrian on Saturday to play the Bulldogs at noon.
Adrian and Calvin are tied for second place in the MIAA standings.
MIAA WOMEN’S SOCCER STANDINGS THROUGH 9-28-11
Alma 5-1-0
Adrian 4-1-0
Calvin 4-1-0
Kalamazoo 4-2-0
Hope 3-2-0
Saint Mary’s 2-3-0
Trine 1-4-0
Olivet 1-5-0
Albion 0-5-0
MEN’S AND WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
The Calvin men’s and women’s cross country teams continue to move up in the
national polls. In the latest set of national rankings released by the United
States Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association, the Calvin men are
ranked third and the Calvin women are ranked eighth. Both teams have moved up
one spot from a week ago when the Calvin men were ranked fourth and the Calvin
women ranked ninth.
North Central is the top-ranked team in the men’s poll. Calvin will get a
chance to run against the Cardinals this Friday at the Notre Dame Invitational.
On the women’s side, Middlebury (Vt.) is again ranked number-one.
Both Calvin teams will run at the Notre Dame Invitational on Friday. A group
of runners representing both teams will also compete at the Loyola Invitational
on Saturday.
USTFCCA Division III National Polls:
http://www.ustfccca.org/assets/rankings/div3/2011-xc/Div3_XC_2011_Week3_National-Summary.pdf
Received on Wed Sep 28 22:54:11 2011
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