CKSR (Volleyball Wins at Kalamazoo/Women's Soccer Tripped Up at Alma/Cross Country Teams Hold National Rankings)

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR OCT. 12, 2011

Volleyball Picks up Win on the Road at Kalamazoo;
Women's Soccer Tripped Up at Alma;
Cross Country Teams Hold Spots in National Rankings
 

VOLLEYBALL
Calvin 3, Kalamazoo 0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-11)
By sports information student assistant Mitch Blankespoor

KALAMAZOO, MI – The Calvin women’s volleyball team took on the Hornets at
Kalamazoo’s Anderson Athletic Complex Wednesday night. Kalamazoo held to form,
playing tough at home, but fell to the Knights in straight sets by scores of
25-19, 25-20, 25-11.
Using the serve of junior Jen Pluymert (Grand Rapids Christian HS), Calvin
jumped out to early leads in the first two sets. Kalamazoo closed the Calvin
gap to 17-14 in each set, but could not get any closer. The Knights got out to
a lead once again in set number three. The Hornets mounted no such comeback
this time. Behind a service run by sophomore Kristi Zietse (Grand Rapids
Christian HS) and a kill from junior Lizzie Kamp (Chicago Christian HS), Calvin
closed out the match.
“Give all the credit to Kalamazoo.” Calvin Head Coach Amber Warners said after
the match. “They always play tough at home. I was happy with the intensity we
came out with today.”
Calvin was led by a trio of hitters. Senior Rebecca Kamp (Chicago Christian
HS) had 17 kills and four block assists. Fellow senior Erin Vander Plas
(Northern Michigan Christian HS) hit a .429 clip adding 12 kills of her own.
Lizzie Kamp added 11 kills. Kelly Gordon led the Knights with 11 digs
Sophomore setter Megan Rietema (Grand Rapids Christian HS) dished out 44
assists (14.66 assists/set) while adding two solo blocks and two block
assists.
“Megan (Rietema) had her best match of the year. She did a great job reading
their (Kalamazoo’s) middle blockers and setting outside. Erin (Vander Plas)
and Lizzie (Kamp) had one blocker several times tonight.” Warners reflected.
The Hornets were led by senior Colleen Leonard who recorded nine kills.
Freshmen setter Alex Gothard dished out 18 assists.
Calvin (19-0, 11-0 MIAA) is co-hosting the Midwest Tournament with Hope
College this coming weekend. The will face four teams starting with St.
Benedict at 3:00pm Friday. The complete schedule can be found at:
http://www.hope.edu/athletics/vb/vbmidwest.html

MIAA VOLLEYBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 10-12-11 MATCHES

Calvin 11-0
Hope 9-1
Alma 8-4
Trine 6-5
Kalamazoo 5-5
Saint Mary’s 5-6
Adrian 3-8
Olivet 2-9
Albion 0-11

WOMEN’S SOCCER
Alma 2, Calvin 0
(by sports information student assistant Derek Neice)

With a chance to move up in the standings with a win, the Knights fell short
of the mark Wednesday at Alma, falling by a score of 2-0 off a pair of second
half goals by Carly Reising (Otsego, MI) of the Scots. The loss pushes Calvin
to 6-8 overall and 6-4 in the conference.
In the first half both teams had solid chances but could not find the net, and
Alma went into the halftime break with a 10-6 advantage on shots. Calvin’s
best chances came primarily from corner kicks, with junior Liz Cancel (Saint
Clair Shores, MI) sending in a number of good balls that receiving players were
unable to finish.
In the second half, Alma got on the scoreboard in a hurry with a goal from
Reising who scored from outside the box on a well-struck shot that outstretched
Calvin keeper Ashton Hearn (Port Huron, MI) could not get a hand on. Reising,
who would later add a second goal to further ice the game, was also the
last-minute scorer from the earlier contest between these two teams at Calvin
where Alma took a 2-1 lead with just over a minute to play.
Wednesday, Calvin was unable to mount a similar comeback, despite a number of
good shots. Cancel, sophomore Kelly Koets (Grandville, MI), and freshman
Rebecca Vanderbyl (Bowmont, CA) all had very good chances that either missed
the frame by a very close margin, or were saved by the Scots keeper.
“We had some solid shots with some going just over and with the Alma keeper
making some good saves,” Calvin coach Mark Recker said afterward. “Today was a
lot more of what I expected from Alma in being aggressive, physical and trying
to manage all parts of the game.”
“With such a young team this year we can often be pushed to our limits,”
Recker continued. “but every team we play continues to bring their A-game in
competing against us, so we also need to continue to compete hard and learn to
play sharper and more efficiently.”
With fifth place Kalamazoo upsetting Adrian 1-0 on Wednesday as well, Calvin
falls into a points tie with Kalamazoo for fourth place in the standings, but
with the Knights owning the edge after defeating the Hornets last week 4-1.
As the season starts to wind down each game will become more and more
important as the final standings continue to take shape, with the top four
teams entering the postseason conference tournament.
Calvin will next play on Saturday with a home contest against last-place
Albion.

MIAA WOMEN’S SOCCER STANDINGS THROUGH 10-12-11

Adrian 8-2-0 (24 points)
Hope 8-2-0 (24 points)
Alma 7-2-1 (22 points)
Calvin 6-4-0 (18 points)
Kalamazoo 6-4-0 (18 points)
Saint Mary’s 4-5-0 (12 points)
Olivet 2-8-0 (6 points)
Trine 1-7-2 (5 points)
Albion 0-8-1 (1 point)

MEN’S AND WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

The Calvin men’s and women’s cross country teams continue to hold their spots
in the latest set of national rankings released by the United States Track and
Field Cross Country Coaches Association. The Calvin men are again ranked third
while the Calvin women are again ranked seventh.
North Central (IL) continues to be the top-ranked team on the men’s side while
Williams (MA) has taken over the top spot in the women’s poll. Both Calvin
teams are preparing to compete at the Wisconsin-Oshkosh Brooks Invitational
this Saturday.
The Calvin men will be one of eight nationally-ranked teams competing on
Saturday. Other nationally ranked teams include North Central (1), Washington
University of Missouri (5). Wisconsin-Oshkosh (8), Augustana (12),
Wisconsin-Stevens Point (20), Wisconsin-Platteville (21), and Wheaton (29).
The Calvin women will be one of seven nationally-ranked teams competing on
Saturday. Other nationally-ranked teams include Washington University of
Missouri (3), St. Olaf (13), Carleton (15), Hope (16), Ohio Northern (25) and
North Central (34).
Received on Wed Oct 12 21:59:39 2011