CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR OCT. 28, 2011
Volleyball Wraps Up Outright MIAA Regular Season Title With Win at Hope;
VanderPlas Featured on NCAA Website;
Swimming and Diving Teams Compete in Dual Meets Against Grand Valley State
VOLLEYBALL
By sports information student assistant Andrew Knot
The Knights completed a regular season sweet of archrival Hope on Friday night
with a four set victory: 22-25, 25-16, 25-20, 26-24. With the win, Calvin
wraps up its 18th MIAA regular season title, its fourth under current head
coach Amber Warners and its first outright league title since 2007. In
addition, Calvin clinches the top seed for the four-team MIAA Tournament next
Friday and Saturday and will host the semifinals and final at Calvin’s Van
Noord Arena.
Calvin faced immediate pressure from the Knights when Hope opened the first
set on an 8-3 run. Freshman Jenna Grasmeyer had her way on the outside and
senior Lindy Melville picked apart the Knights’ back row in the set’s opening
stages. The Knights were able to cut the lead to 9-7 when Julia Hilbrands and
Renee DeHaan teamed up on a combo block, but Hope later extended its lead to
17-11. From there, the Dutch would advance to take the first set 25-22.
Calvin bounced back in the second set with its own 8-3 run. Erin VanderPlas
opened the set with one of her 11 kills and Rebecca Kamp followed that up soon
after. Later in the set, Hilbrands set VanderPlas to keep the Knights on top
10-5. Jen Pluymert then spurred the Knights on a service run that took the
score to 17-8 and forced Hope coach Becky Schmidt to call a timeout. Calvin
responded to the timeout in the form of a Rebecca Kamp cross court kill off a
slide. While serving in the set’s late stages, Kristi Zietse kept the Knights
alive with a magnificent dig that VanderPlas put down. Calvin put the set away
on a slide to DeHaan, which left the second set at 25-16.
The pivotal third set proved to sway the game Calvin’s direction. Lizzie Kamp
put down a Hope overpass early in the set to put the Knights on top 12-4, but
Hope responded with a pair of monster blocks to cut the Calvin lead to four and
force a timeout from Calvin’s coach Amber Warners. Out of the timeout, both
squads exercised defensive grit, resulting in a string of lengthy rallies and
the Dutch cut Calvin’s lead to 17-16. Later in the set, Rebecca Kamp found
success at the service line with an ace of Hope’s Jessica Maier. Megan Rietema
and DeHaan then combined for a team block to Jenna Grassmeyer to bring the set
to 24-20. DeHaan then came up big on a solo block of a Maier back row attack
to clinch the third set.
Contrary to the first three sets, the fourth set was competitive from the
onset. The Kamp sisters gave Calvin an early 4-2 lead with a block of Jillian
Sommerville, but the score was deadlocked at 10 early on. Warners was forced
to call a timeout when Hope took a 14-12 lead, but the Knights clawed back to a
one point deficit at 18-17 after a Lizzie Kamp cross court kill. Calvin then
battled to tie the game at 20 and take a point advantage after consecutive
kills from Rebecca Kamp. But Hope responded to reclaim a 23-22 lead late in
the set. Another kill from Lizzie Kamp and an attacking error from the Dutch
gave Calvin its first match point. Grasmeyer’s subsequent kill prolonged the
match, but on match point at 25-24, Lizzie Kamp tipped down the line to secure
a Calvin victory.
Warners, who credited Hope on “their amazing defense,” saw a lot of resiliency
in her team.
“We have players with really good heads on their shoulders. They don’t take
things too seriously and focus on winning the next point,” she said of her
players’ reaction to first-set adversity.
“[Coming from behind] takes a mentality,” said Lizzie Kamp. “Everyone has to
be all in and that is what’s special about our team.”
The victory improved top-ranked Calvin’s record to 28-0 and 15-0 overall. The
Knights concluded MIAA play with a home match-up against Adrian tomorrow.
MORE VOLLEYBALL
Calvin College senior Erin VanderPlas is one of the subjects of the NCAA's:
"Get to Know Them" Feature on the NCAA.com website. The feature can be found
online at:
http://www.ncaa.com/news/volleyball-women/article/2011-10-27/get-know-few-standout-athletes
MEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING
By Sports Information Student Assistant Mark DeHaan
A week after opening up its season at the MIAA Relays, the Calvin men’s swim
and dive team hosted Grand Valley State for their it’s first dual meet of the
season. The Knights were able to get off to a quick start as they were able to
take first and third place in the 200 Yard Medley Relay, the first event of the
night.
Unfortunately for the Knights, it was not until the diving that they would
capture another top spot. Sophomore Andrew Krafft dove like he was in
mid-season form, though, setting two pool records as well as making two NCAA
cuts. In the 1 meter diving, Krafft finished with a final score of 328.85, more
than 70 points ahead of second place. The 3 meter dive seemed to be almost a
replica performance as Krafft racked up 329.35 points, more than 85 points
ahead of second place.
During the second half of the swimming events, sophomore Andrew Mitchell was
able to grab a second place finish in the 100 Yard Backstroke, while Calvin
would take a 2-3-4 finish in the 100 yard breaststroke via senior Greg Gorham,
freshmen Andrew Vanderlei, and senior Chris Shepperly, respectively.
The Knights would also take second and third in the 200 Yard Freestyle Relay.
GVSU would prove to be too strong, however, taking the meet at a final score of
328-148.
“It was our first real dual meet, we were being strategic with events, we want
to be consistent with training,” said Head Coach Dan Gelderloos. “Monday
through Friday, that’s when it really matters. We want to see some fight, (the
team) is wanting respect, and that comes little bit by little bit. We just want
to come in each week and get better.”
The Knights will now look forward to next week Saturday, November 5, when they
host Wheaton at 1:00 p.m.
WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING
By sports information student assistant Derek Neice
Only two meets deep into a long season, the women of Calvin’s Swim and Dive
team looked good Friday evening against local opponent Grand Valley State as
the Knights as a team lost to the powerhouse Lakers 328-148.
Friday marked the first meet for the Knights that included individual events
for the swimmers as well as diving events, and aside from a disqualification in
the first event, Calvin started well in both areas as the women seek to defend
their conference title from last year.
“It’s a long season and we fewer swimmers than we did last year but we’re
still very competitive,” head coach Dan Gelderloos said afterward. “We’ve got
our work cut out for us this year but we like our chances.”
Notable finishes from the women included the 200 yd medley relay as the Calvin
B team [Erika Waugh, Alexi Scott, Bridget Scott, Samantha Musolf] finished
third overall with a time of 1:57.72 in the 1000 yd free as Shelby Cloyd
finished first with a time of 10:55.28, in the 200 yd IM as Alexi Scott
finishing third with a time of 2:16.27, in the 100 yd free as Stephie Fox
finished third with a time of 54.89, in the 500 yd free as Elizabeth Counsell
finished third with a time of 5:26.85, in the 100 yd breast as Alexi Scott
finished second [1:11.59], Margaret Rechel finished third [1:15.83], and
Elizabeth Schleh finished fourth [1:16.84], and in the 200 yd free relay as the
Calvin A team [Alex Dhaenens, Rachel Colasurdo, Samantha Musolf, Maria Sedjo]
finished second with a time of 1:41.89, and the Calvin B team [Shelby Cloyd,
Savanna VanWormer, Kathryn Worbel, Briana Seaks] finished third with a time of
1:46.09.
“We were trying to be strategic with our events in giving some of the kids a
little change and variety,” said Gelderloos. “But overall I think we swam very
consistent.”
On the diving boards the Knights got a great performance from their number one
diver, Sam Klaasen, as she finished second in both the 1 meter and 3 meter
diving events with 255.60 and 236.20 points respectively. Klaasen’s
performance was enough to make the national cut.
“Diving was looking very strong,” said Gelderloos of his divers. “They’re
going to be leading the charge in the conference.”
As the Knights now get into the swing of meets each week, the women will
continue to improve as they hope to win yet another MIAA title later in the
season. They next event for Calvin will be November 5th at home against
Wheaton.
Received on Fri Oct 28 23:29:44 2011
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