CKSR (Calvin Knight Sports Report for Nov. 9, 2012)

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR NOV. 9, 2012

Volleyball Holds Off Mount Union - To Face Wittenberg in Regional Final;
Women's Soccer Upsets Aurora 1-0 in OT in NCAA III First Round Match;
Men's Soccer Falls in NCAAs 3-0 to DePauw;
Swimming and Diving Teams Defeated at Wayne State

VOLLEYBALL
Calvin 3, Mount Union 2
Story by Mitch Blankespoor

GRAND RAPIDS – The Calvin College volleyball team was pushed to the limit in
an NCAA III second round matchup with Mount Union (Oh.). Calvin prevailed,
winning the five set thriller by scores of 25-12, 23-25, 25-21, 24-26 and
25-6.
Calvin was firing on all cylinders in the first set. The Knights jumped out
to a 15-4 lead behind a service run from senior Becca Ratkov (New
Baltimore/Anchor Bay). This forced a timeout call from Mount Union head coach
Leigh Ann Swartz. Mount Union cut Calvin’s lead to 19-10, but kills from
senior Lizzie Kamp (Orland Park, IL/Chicago Christian) and Megan Rietema (Grand
Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian) propelled Calvin to an easy first set victory.

Calvin hit a blistering .424 in the first set while holding the Purple Raiders
to .088.
Each of the next three sets were tight. The second set was tied at 16, 19 and
21. A kill by Mary Tout and a service ace by libero Kristin Gomes gave Mount
Union the second set victory.
Calvin responded in set three, gained an early 13-8 lead in the third set.
Mount Union came back to tie the set at 14, but three kills from Lizzie Kamp
propelled Calvin to take the third set.
The fourth set started with each team winning eight of the first 16 points.
Once again, Lizzie Kamp turned on the offense, and had six straight kills for
the Knights, giving Calvin a five-point cushion. Back-to-back kills by Tout
and a service run from setter Sarah Schleich tied the set at 15 apiece. Calvin
faced three set points in a row, and won all three points, once again tying the
set at 24. The Purple Raiders won the next two points with kills form Taylor
Webb, and forced a fifth set.
Calvin was not to be denied. Two consecutive attack errors by Mount Union
gave Calvin the early 2-0 lead. Teams would trade side outs until junior
Krisit Zietse stepped up to the service line with the score 8-6. Seven points
later, the match was over.
“We a came out to a great start,” said Calvin head coach Amber Warners after
the match. “Mount Union really picked up their defense and starting digging,
digging and digging.”
Calvin was led by Lizzie Kamp who recorded a career-high 29 kills on 70 attack
attempts. Rietema dished out a career-high 67 assists while chipping in 15
blocks. She along with three other Knights tallied double-digit digs for the
match. Maggie Kamp (Orland Park, IL/Chicago Christian) tallied 17 kills, two
errors on 34 attempts, good for a .441 hitting percentage.
Senior Nicole Snyder led Mount Union with 10 kills in defeat.
Calvin scored seven blocks to Mount Union’s six. The Knights also tallied 80
total kills on the evening compared to just 47 for the Purple Raiders.
Top ranked Calvin (30-2) will face second-ranked Wittenberg (27-4) in the
regional final match Saturday at 7:00 p.m. Wittenberg defeated Hope in
straight sets earlier in the day.
This will mark the third consecutive year Calvin and Wittenberg have met in
the regional finals as well as the fifth time overall. Wittenberg defeated
Calvin in four sets en route to its national championship a season ago. In
2010, Calvin defeated Wittenberg in four sets en route to its national
championship.

WOMEN’S SOCCER
Calvin 1, Aurora 0 (OT)

Traveling to Dubuque, Iowa to face Aurora University, the Calvin College
women's soccer team had their work cut out for them as they faced the 19-1-1
Spartans. Aurora entered the match ranked 13th nationally in one poll and 22nd
in another. Playing strong defense and shutting down the Aurora offense, Calvin
earned a 1-0 overtime win with a goal just 19 seconds into the first overtime
from freshman Paige Capel.

The first half was very defensive as the teams combined for only five shots in
the first 25 minutes. Aurora then put a good shot on net in the 30th minute
that was blocked by Kelsey Heigel.

Calvin was unable create any strong opportunities in the first half of the
match, tallying only four shots.
Aurora had another great opportunity in the 53rd minute. A ball was placed
across the middle on a Spartan counter attack. The Aurora forward in the center
of the field then let the ball roll through her legs before heeling it toward
the bottom right corner of the net. A sprawling save by Ashton Hearn kept the
game scoreless, though.

Junior Kelly Koets put a strong shot on net in the 80th minute. Koets, looking
for the far post from the top of the box, put the ball just wide.

Aurora almost took the lead in the 82nd minute. An Aurora attacker made her
way into the middle of the box, splitting a pair of Calvin defenders and
putting a shot on net. Attempting to make a sliding stop,
Hearn got just enough of the ball to send the Spartan attackers shot off the
crossbar and out of bounds.
The remainder of the clock ticked away, and Calvin and Aurora headed into
overtime.

Seconds into overtime, Calvin advanced into the second round as freshman Paige
Capel slotted the ball underneath the Aurora keeper and into the net. The goal
came just 19 seconds into the first overtime and broke a scoreless tie to put
Calvin into the second round where it will face host Loras. Off of the opening
kick of overtime, Calvin made four passes to set up Capel for the game-winning
goal.
Calvin was outshot by Aurora 17-8 but scored the only goal of the match.
Ashton Hearn made six saves in net on her way to a clean sheet.�

“Our team proved the idea that hard work pays off, and heart has just as much
presence on the field as skill,” said head coach Mark Recker. “Nineteen seconds
into the first overtime, our team made four combination passes to get Paige to
a point where she was one-on-one racing to a ball. The goalie had to come out
and Paige made a smart play of toe-poking it and it went underneath and we all
watched as it rolled from the top of the 18 and into the back of the net – and
the game was over.”

Calvin will now face host Loras tomorrow at 6 p.m. Loras defeated its first
round opponent St. Scholastica 4-1 in the first game on Friday.

 
MEN’S SOCCER
DePauw 3, Calvin 0

Calvin College men's soccer traveled to Dominican University for first round
NCAA Division III Tournament action against DePauw University Friday afternoon.
Unfortunately for Calvin, a 1st minute goal by DePauw and an inability to find
the back of the net doomed the Knights as they fell 3-0.
The Knights found themselves in an early hole as DePauw scored just 31 seconds
into the match. A defensive breakdown by Calvin gave DePauw a good shot on net.
Calvin senior keeper Jared Rushlau punched the ball away from frame, but right
to a DePauw attacker. The DePauw attacker then headed the ball toward the empty
net, past a recovering Rushlau and a Calvin defender into the net for a
stunningly early 1-0 DePauw lead.

The Tigers added to their lead in the 21st minute. Saving a shot on net was
Jared Rushlau. With the ball seemingly in Rushlau's possession, a DePauw
attacker was able to poke the ball into the back of the net to extend the
Tigers' lead to 2-0.

Calvin would not give up easily, though, as the Knights attack began to
pressure DePauw keeper Tony Halterman. Senior Nick Holtrop first pressured the
Tiger keeper on a deep shot on frame that ricocheted off the crossbar. Senior
Joe Broekhuizen collected the rebound and put another shot on net, this too off
the crossbar.

Minutes later, Holtrop struck an immaculate volley with his off-foot that was
seemingly destined for the back of the net before Halterman punched it over the
bar.

The Knights then earned three corner kicks in the final minute. None of these
kicks resulted in any strong opportunities on net, however, and Calvin went
into the intermission with a steep 2-0 hill to climb.

In the 66th minute, the climb became even steeper as the Tigers netted their
third goal of the match to push their advantage to 3-0.

The Knights then took an emotional hit in the 70th minute when Rushlau had to
be carted off the field with a leg injury after a collision with a DePauw
player. The DePauw player was shown a red card, and Calvin played up a man the
remainder of the match.

Unfortunately for the Knights, the man-advantage was not enough to make up for
the emotional toll of losing your senior keeper or the three goal deficit, and
Calvin ended up falling 3-0 to DePauw to bring its season to an end.

Rushlau made six saves before leaving with injury, while Halterman totaled
eight saves in blanking the Knights.

The loss ended the careers of arguably the most successful class in Calvin
soccer history. Seniors Nick Holtrop, Joe Broekhuizen, Dan Nederhoed, Jared
Rushlau, and Chris Nance made it to the National Tournament all four years of
their Calvin careers, advancing to the national final twice and the
quarterfinals once.

“Losing and ending a season never becomes normal,” said head coach Ryan
Souders. “If our senior class is judged on today, things are kind of lost in
translation. This is a group of guys that elevated what was a very good program
to a program which expects to win the conference, expects to be in the national
tournament, and expects to play many games in the national tournament. That is
quite a legacy to leave; to take a program that was and is very good, to the
next level, is a huge accomplishment to them and an incredible job on their
part.”

MEN’S AND WOMEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING

DETROIT – The Calvin men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams were both
defeated by Division II Wayne State University in non-conference dual meet
action Saturday night. In the men’s meet, Calvin was defeated 159-77. In the
women’s meet, Calvin fell by a 149-89 score.

In the women’s meet, sophomore Kathryn Wrobel (Arden Hills, MN/Moundsview HS)
won the 1,650 freestyle (18:02.50) while freshman Michaela Rookus
(Hudsonville/Hudsonville HS) won the 100 breaststroke (1:09.50). Calvin’s 200
freestyle relay team of senior Rachel Colasurdo (Chesapeake, VA), senior
Elizabeth Counsell (Indianapolis, IN/Heritage Christian HS), freshman Leah
Meyer (Hudsonville/Unity Christian HS) and Wrobel won in a time of 1:43.91.

On the men’s side, freshman Aaron Venema (Grand Haven/Grand Haven HS) captured
a win in the 1,650 freestyle with a time of 16:52.76. Sophomore Travis Vincent
(Novi/Novi HS) also won the 100 breaststroke (1:04.49). Calvin’s 200 freestyle
relay team of Venema, freshman Brandon Muma (Grand Rapids/Forest Hills Eastern
HS), freshman Tyler Ligon (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) and
sophomore Alex Baumann (Holland/Holland Christian HS) won in a time of 1:31.33.

Both teams will now prepare to host their own Calvin Winter Invitational
November 29-to-December 1.

CALVIN/WAYNE STATE RESULTS:
http://www.calvin.edu/sports/mens/swimming/Results2013/WayneResults13.htm
Received on Sat Nov 10 00:12:15 2012