CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT
Men's Soccer Advances to Round of 16 of NCAA III Tournament With 4-0 Win at
Loras;
Volleyball Falls in Regional Final to Wittenberg University;
Swimming and Diving Teams Defeat Hope in Dual Meet Action
MEN'S SOCCER
Calvin 4, Loras 0
DUBUQUE, IA - For the third year in a row and for the fourth time under
current head coach Chris Hughes, the Calvin men's soccer team is headed back to
the Round of 16 of the NCAA III Tournament. The Knights punched their ticket to
the next round with an emphatic 4-0 victory over 12th-ranked Loras College
Saturday night. Calvin will face an opponent from a regional hosted by Redlands
College.
Calvin jumped on host Loras Saturday night with first half goals by freshmen
Sean Broekhuizen (South Christian HS) and Travis Vegter (Unity Christian HS) to
take a 2-0 halftime lead. Broekhuizen was able to give the Knights a 1-0 lead
by heading in a free kick by sophomore Lawrence Murray (Forest Hills Eastern
HS) in the 27th minute of play. In the 36th minute, Vegter got loose on a
2-on-1 breakaway with sophomore teammate Ben Honeycutt (South Christian HS) and
drove a shot home to give the Knights a 2-0 lead.
The goal by Vegter came on a quick counterattack and came as the result of a
pregame strategy according to head coach Chris Hughes.
"We knew that Loras was very quick on the offensive attack and our tactical
goal was to absorb their pressure and then strike back with quick counters on
offense. That 2-on-1 with Travis and Ben came on exactly that type of play."
The fact that Calvin's first two goals were scored by freshmen was also not
lost on Hughes. "The coaching staff talked about that at halftime," said
Hughes. "It's exciting to see a pair of freshmen step up like that in such a
big game. It's exciting for the future of our program and shows the type of
depth that we've built with this team."
In the second half, Calvin's bend-but-not break defensive style continued to
frustrate the host Duhawks andin the 76th minute, sophomore Zach Willis (Unity
Christian HS) broke free on a pass from senior Brad Heethuis (Unity Christian
HS) and whipped in his team-leading 12th goal of the year to put the Knights up
3-0.
Less than two minutes later, Willis picked up his 13th goal of the year off a
rare assist from Calvin goalkeeper Michael Dolan (Marine City HS). The goal
came off a Loras corner kick with Loras goalkeeper Nate DuBois moving into the
Calvin box in an attempt to place an extra attacker in an attempt to score.
Dolan was able to redirect the Loras corner kick over a scrum of players out
onto the feet of Willis who broke free and launched a shot into a wide-open net
to close out the scoring.
Loras (17-3-3) outshot Calvin 17-11 but Dolan had five saves to record his
eighth shutout of the year.
After the game, Hughes praised his defensive backline of senior Justin Ahearne
(Hudsonville HS), junior Dan Nederhoed (East Kentwood HS), Murray and
Broekhuizen. "All four of our (defensive) backs really had to buckle down,"
said Hughes. "They knew they couldn't make mistakes and they performed
wonderfully. They did a great job of working together on double-teams and we
also blocked a lot of shots. That was huge."
Calvin is now 12-9-4 all-time in NCAA III Tournament play including 4-2-4 over
the last three years.
Calvin's next opponent and site of competition will likely not be determined
until late Sunday night.
VOLLEYBALL
By Sports Information Student Assistant Andrew Knot
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Wittenberg ended Calvin’s perfect season with a four-set
victory over the Knights in the regional final Saturday night in front of more
than 2,600 fans at Calvin’s Van Noord Arena.
Wittenberg (34-3) advances to the national quarterfinals next Friday in St.
Louis, Missouri. Calvin’s season ends at 33-1.
The Tigers jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the first set, when Catherine Farny
solo blocked Erin VanderPlas, forcing a timeout from Calvin coach Amber
Warners. Out of the timeout, Calvin responded with consecutive kills from
Renee DeHaan and Megan Rietema; each attacker was assisted by the other, which
brought the score to 9-6. But Wittenberg would counter to take a 16-10 lead.
Later in the set, Calvin would cut the lead to three. But Katie Sumner
responded with two kills late in the set. On set point, Hannah Riley sealed
the match with a cross court kill.
In the second set, it was Calvin’s turn to take the early lead. The Knights
went on top 4-1 off a kill from VanderPlas. Lizzie Kamp and DeHaan then teamed
up for a block to bring the score to 10-4. Wittenberg coach Paco Labrador
called a timeout a point later. Out of the timeout, Calvin would extend the
lead to 16-11 off a Rebecca Kamp kill. Rebecca Kamp contributed a kill a few
points latter and Julia Hilbrands tallied a block to take the set to set point.
A Wittenberg attack error concluded the set at 25-19 moments later.
The pivotal third set began similarly to the third. Christine Simpson
recorded a kill to give Wittenberg a 7-3 lead. Calvin would fight back and
after Jen Pluymert dug three Wittenberg attacks in a single point. Lizzie Kamp
would finish the point on an attack down the line to cut Wittenberg’s lead to
7-6. After a timeout from Labrador, Wittenberg took set to 15-11. Calvin was
unable to crack Wittenberg’s lead from there. The Wittenberg defense, led by
libero Christina Gilene, stifled Calvin’s attack from all angles. On set
point, Miranda Sagle put down a ball tight on the net to clinch the set at
25-18.
The fourth set started tight. Wittenberg held a one point lead nine points
into the set. But the Tigers would take six of the next nine points, and a
Hallie service ace forced a timeout from Warners. From there, Wittenberg would
roll, Hannah Riley served another ace and Kimmie Dyer recorded consecutive
kills. Dyer and Riley closed the set off with consecutive kills to finish the
set emphatically at 25-10.
Calvin was led in defeat by Rebecca Kamp with 13 kills while Lizzie Kamp had
10 kills. Wittenberg received 15 kills from regional tournament MVP Kimmie Dyer
while libero Christina Gilene amassed 24 digs and helped stymie Calvin’s
offensive attack throughout the match.
“We played with nothing to lose tonight,” said Tiger setter Hallie Donathan,
who had 27 assists.
Labrador commended his team’s ability to mix up the attack, and praised his
team’s phenomenal defensive effort. Gilene spearheaded the Tiger defense with
24 digs.
“Wittenberg played fantastic defense,” said Warners. “They came ready to
play.”
Calvin came into the match with the nation’s top hitting percentage average
(.325) but hit a season-low .099 against the Tigers Saturday night.
Saturday’s match marked the fourth time Calvin and Wittenberg have met in a
regional final in the last seven years. A year ago, Calvin defeated
second-ranked Wittenberg in four sets in Springfield, Ohio. This year the
Tigers returned the favor to the top-ranked Knights.
“I know that the Calvin-Hope rivalry is ranked as the top rivalry in the
country but I think the Calvin-Wittenberg rivalry has also really developed and
it’s been good for both Calvin and Wittenberg,” said Labrador. “Both teams have
pushed each other to raise their level of play each year and that has not only
made our teams better, but also the level of play in our region.”
All-Tournament Team: Jenna Grasmeyer (Hope); Rebecca Kamp, Lizzie Kamp, Megan
Rietema (Calvin); Christina Gilene, Katie Sumner, Kimmie Dyer (Witt) Tournament
MVP: Kimmie Dyer (Wittenberg)
MEN'S AND WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING
The Calvin men's and women's swimming and diving teams posted dual meet
victories over Hope on Saturday with the Calvin men edging Hope 148-146 while
the Calvin women were victorious 164-135. A recap will be sent out later this
weekend.
Received on Sun Nov 13 00:09:09 2011
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