CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR NOV. 4, 2011
Volleyball Defeats Trine in MIAA Tournament Semis - To Face Hope in Saturday
Final;
Men's Soccer Falls to Olivet 1-0 in MIAA Tournament Semifinals
VOLLEYBALL
Calvin 3, Trine 0 (25-15, 28-26, 25-14)
By Sports Information Student Assistant Andrew Knot
The Knights advanced to the MIAA championship on Friday with a straight set
victory over Trine in the semi-finals.
Calvin took the first set handily by a score of 25-15, though the set was tied
at 10-10 early on. Rebecca Kamp put the Knights on a run at the service line.
Erin VanderPlas sparked the run with an authoritative attack up the middle to
put the Knights on top 13-11. Lizzie Kamp followed that up from the outside by
painting the line with an attack. Renee De Haan then recorded a tip kill to
put Calvin on top by seven. Megan Rietema joined the mix with a right-handed
reverse tip down the line and Calvin took the set going away.
The second set posed more of a problem for the Knights. Once again, the set
was tight from the onset. But this time, Trine pulled away with some superior
play at the net. The Thunder went ahead 15-9 after Jordan Bell and Betsy Irwin
put up a combo block. Irwin held the margin at six—18-12—with a service ace
shortly thereafter. But the Knights were able to crawl back. Again, it was
Rebecca Kamp’s efforts at the service line that allowed them to do so. Lizzie
Kamp and DeHaan teamed up on a block Bell to bring the score to 18-14. Calvin
cut the margin to 18-17, but the Thunder reestablished a 23-20 lead in
response. The Knights then put up a triple block on Irwin. Rebecca Kamp
earned a kill up the middle, and VanderPlas went cross court to square the
score at 23. VanderPlas put up another kill to draw set point at 25-24. Irwin
responded with a kill at 26-26. The Kamp sisters then walled off another Irwin
attack and a Kristi Zietse serve closed off the set at 28-26.
The third set was once more close in its early stages. Off a slide, DeHaan
placed a kill through the seam of the block to put Calvin up 6-5. Kelly Gordon
then aced the Thunder back row and the Knights were on top 10-8 early. Calvin
then pulled away thanks to a Zietse service run. Zietze also contributed
extraordinary hustle in the back row to give Calvin a 19-10 advantage. Rebecca
Kamp and Lizzie Kamp posted valuable kills in the set’s late stages and Calvin
won the final set by a score of 25-14.
“I liked the fight I saw in our team. We held our composure,” said Coach
Amber Warners, whose Knights remain top-ranked and unbeaten on the year.
Calvin hit .304 as a team in the win with Lizzie Kamp collecting 11 kills,
Renee DeHaan 10 kills and Rebecca Kamp eight kills. Megan Rietema had 33
assists while Kelly Gordon and Kristi Zietse had 11 digs apiece.
Calvin will host Hope tomorrow in the MIAA championship at 4:30 p.m.
MEN’S SOCCER
Olivet 1, Calvin 0
Playing Olivet for the second time in less than a week, the Knights looked to
rebound against the Comets after a 1-0 loss last Saturday. The Knights captured
the regular season title at Alma on Wednesday, claiming the first seed, while
Olivet is the fourth seed in the inaugural men's soccer MIAA Tournament this
weekend.
The visiting Comets (14-6-1) were able to come out quickly, and just as they
had last Saturday, get on the board early. An Olivet pass in the 11th minute
found sophomore Fred Smyser open on the right side of the box. A perfectly
placed shot was then slipped inside the far post by Smyser, giving the Comets
the 1-0 advantage.
The Knights (15-5-1) were able to pressure in the first half, notching six
shots, but only two on Olivet freshmen keeper Alex Lang. The Comets would head
into halftime with the one goal lead. With Olivet in a defensive mindset, the
Knights came out of the break attacking the Comets back line. In the 54th
minute, sophomore Zach Willis was able to find some space on the left side of
the field. A pass by junior Trevor Bushhouse found Willis, whose ensuing shot
was deflected wide by an Olivet defender.
With just under nineteen minutes to go, the Knights had another fine chance as
Willis would put a cross into the middle just over the fingertips of the Olivet
keeper. Junior Chris Nance would put his head on the ball, but the ball would
sail just wide, keeping the Olivet advantage at one. Calvin continued to trail,
and in the last five minutes put a number of strong chances on net.
With 3:56 remaining, junior Joe Broekhuizen put a free kick into the middle
and found an open Zach Willis. Willis would head the ball just wide, however,
and the Knights remained down a goal. With under a minute remaining,
Broekhuizen was given another free kick. This too was sent into the box where
freshmen Travis Vegter was able to head the ball into the goal. What seemed to
be the tying goal was waved off, however, as a foul was called on the Knights.
The Comets would then run the clock out, advancing to the MIAA Tournament
Finals while ending the Knights regular season. Without the automatic bid that
comes from winning the MIAA, the Knights, with a record of 15-5-1 on the
season, will now await the decision of the NCAA Tournament Committee to receive
an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament. Calvin was recently ranked 16th in the
NSCAA Division III Top 25 poll.
Received on Fri Nov 4 22:48:24 2011
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