CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR NOVEMBER 10, 2012
Volleyball Claims Regional Title With Epic Five-Set Victory Over Wittenberg;
Women's Soccer Falls in NCAA III Second Round Match to Loras
Men's Cross Country Captures Great Lakes Regional Title / Women Take Third
VOLLEYBALL
Calvin 3, Wittenberg 2
In a match fitting of two top-ranked teams, the Calvin women’s volleyball
secured a 23-25, 25-18, 23-25, 26-24, 15-12 victory over Wittenberg in front of
more than 1,700 fans inside Calvin’s Van Noord Arena. The victory gives
top-ranked Calvin a berth in the national quarterfinals next Thursday in
Holland, Michigan. Calvin will face an opponent yet to be determined. Calvin’s
quarterfinal match next Thursday will take place at Hope’s DeVos Fieldhouse.
Calvin will be making its second trip to the national finals in the last three
years.
Saturday’s match between Calvin and second-ranked Wittenberg marked the fifth
meeting between the two non-conference rivals in a regional final including the
third consecutive year. In 2010, Calvin defeated the Tigers in four sets in
Springfield, Ohio. In 2011, Wittenberg returned the favor, defeating the
Knights in four sets in Grand Rapids.
In Saturday’s epic final between the Knights and Tigers, Wittenberg was the
verge of victory as it led 22-21 in set four. Calvin regained the lead 24-23
and then 25-24 and closed out the match with a kill by sophomore Emily Crowe
through the middle.
In the deciding fifth set, Calvin used a three-point run to build a 9-6 lead
and then went up 12-8 and 13-10. Wittenberg clawed back however with
back-to-back points, forcing Calvin to call timeout with the score 13-12.
Freshman Maggie Kamp then delivered for the Knights out of the timeout with a
resounding kill and on the subsequent point, a Wittenberg attacker sent a ball
out-of-bounds, allowing the Knights to claim the win.
“I thought we came out ready to play today,” said Calvin women’s volleyball
coach Amber Warners. “We knew that we would have a fight on our hands. Early on
I think we made a few too many unforced errors but I thought that if we could
hold on in set four, that we would have a good chance in set five.”
Calvin is now 4-1 in five-set matches this year and 7-2 against
nationally-ranked opponents.
“I thought this was a really epic game between two highly-ranked opponents,”
said Wittenberg head coach Paco Labrador. “I give all of the credit to Calvin
for putting together a good game plan against us and having the kind of players
that can take over a game. That’s something that every team that faces Calvin
will have to figure out – a way to face their big hitters and big blockers.”
Calvin hit .251 as a team led by senior Lizzie Kamp who had 24 kills and 15
digs. Junior setter Megan Rietema was also sensational with a triple-double as
she tallied 13 kills, 15 digs and 51 assists to go with six blocks. Freshman
Maggie Kamp was also strong with 14 kills while senior Rebecca Ratkov had 10
kills while sophomore Emily Crowe recorded 10 blocks and seven kills. Seniors
Jen Pluymert and Kelly Gordon had 20 and 18 digs respectively while junior
Kristen Zietse also had 12 digs.
Wittenberg was led by Andrea Behling with 16 kills while Kara Seidenstricker
had 15 kills and Jessica Batanian had 14 kills. Setter Hallie Donathan had 25
assists and libero Christine Gilene a match-high 32 digs.
The all-tournament team was led by Rietema was named the Most Outstanding
Player of the regional. She was joined on the all-tournament team by Lizzie
Kamp, Maggie Kamp, Gilene, Seidenstricker, Jenna Grasmeyer of Hope and Nicole
Snyder of Mount Union.
Calvin will find out its national quarterfinal opponent and time of its
Thursday match later this weekend. Information on the national finals at Hope
can be found online at: http://www.hope.edu/pr/athletics/vbchampionship/
WOMEN'S SOCCER
Loras 4, Calvin 2
By Mark DeHaan
A night after upsetting Aurora University in the first round of the Division
III national tournament, the Calvin women's soccer team looked to upset host
Loras College Saturday night in Dubuque, Iowa.
Calvin almost netted a goal in the 7th minute. Senior Liz Cancel, attempting
to place a cross into the middle of the box, put a pass off the back of a Loras
defender that deflected toward the net. The Duhawks keeper, anticipating a
cross, was coming out of her net but kept the deflected ball out of the net by
swatting at the ball with her right hand and getting a touch on it.
Unfortunately for Calvin, it was Loras who would score first. In the 12th
minute, Duhawks forward Katie Truesdale beat a Knights defender then slipped
the ball into the net past a charging Ashton Hearn to give Loras the 1-0
advantage.
Kelly Koets tied the game in the 16th minute when she took a shot from 30
yards out that beat the Loras keeper upper-90.
Loras responded just minutes later as the Duhawks were awarded a free kick at
the top of Calvin's box. Duhawks forward Hilary Wilson then put a shot through
the Calvin wall and into the back of the net to give Loras another one goal
advantage at 2-1.
Freshman Paige Capel had a strong chance on net in the 36th minute as she was
able to break through into the Loras box. Capel's first touch was too far,
however, and the Duhawks keeper was able to charge and meet Capel at the ball,
preventing any shot on net.
Despite the halftime deficit, Calvin matched Loras shot-for-shot as each team
tallied seven shots in the opening half.
Loras increased its advantage just minutes into the second half as Katie
Truesdale scored her second goal of the game to give the Duhawks a 3-1 lead.
In the 60th minute, Loras all but sealed the win as they put a fourth goal
into the back of the net to push its advantage to 4-1.
Freshman Paige Capel cut into the Duhawks lead in the 80th minute with her
second goal in two games on a pass from freshman Taylor TenHarmsel.
Unfortunately, Calvin could not add to its two goal total, and fell to Loras
4-2. The loss is the final game in the careers of seniors Francesca Smith and
Liz Cancel.
“Loras had a lot of energy, played very direct and very physical,” said head
coach Mark Recker. “We kept on battling, we got the second goal and I think we
had a couple other chances we just didn't convert. It has been an unbelievable
season, and one that they will celebrate in the future, it’s just very tough
right now to accept what happened.”
The women's soccer team finishes the year 16-5-1. Calvin was the MIAA regular
season and tournament champion despite being picked to finish fifth in the
preseason poll.
MEN'S AND WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
ANDERSON, IN - The second-ranked Calvin women's cross country team captured a
Great Lakes Regional title on Saturday with a first place score of 36 points.
The win advances the Knights to next week's NCAA III Championships in Terre
Haute, Indiana. The Great Lakes Regional title is the 17th consecutive regional
crown for the Calvin men. Calvin will be makingt its 28th appearance at the
national meet in men's cross country which ranks third on the all-time NCAA III
list.
Meanwhile the fifth-ranked Calvin women's cross country team took third with
103 points. Hope took first place with 91 points with Oberlin second with 95
points. The top two teams receive automatic spots to the NCAA III Championships
while the next three teams are eligible for at-large consideration. The Calvin
women's cross country team will now have to wait until Sunday to see if it
receives an at-large bid.
In the men's race, Calvin claimed five of the top 13 spots led by senior Dan
Kerr (Petoskey/Petoskey HS) who took second in a time of 24:27. The race also
marked the return of senior Nick Kramer (Dyer, IN/Illiana Christian HS) from
injury and Kramer did not disappoint, finishing fourth in a time of 24:49.
Senior Job Christiansen (New Ispwich, NH/Mascenic Regional HS) continued his
stellar campaign, placing sixth (25:13) while senior David Vande Bunte (Byron
Center/Byron Center HS) was 11th (25:26), senior Matt VanderRoest (Ann
Arbor/Ann Arbor Huron HS) 13th (25:29), senior Greg Whittle (Galesburg,
IL/Galesburg HS) 26th (25:56) and junior Sam Kerk (Hartland, WI/Lake Country
Lutheran HS) 34th (26:06).
All seven Calvin finishers earned Great Lakes All-Region honors by finishing
in the top 35. The 13th place finish by VanderRoest was also notable as he has
also missed the last month of action with an injury.
"We had a very encouraging men's race," said Calvin head coach Brian Diemer.
"Nick Kramer and Matt VanderRoest were our wild cards going in and they were
terrific. The challenge now is to keep those guys going for one more week and
I'm confident we can do that. Our team is very excited and looking forward to
the challenge of racing for a championship next week."
On the women's side, Calvin again featured a strong one-two punch up front
with junior Nicole Michmerhuizen (Holland/Holland Christian HS) taking fifth
(21:49) and senior Alyssa Penning (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS)
taking ninth (21:59). Sophomore Kate Ardinger (Elmhurst, IL/Timothy Christian
HS) then took 18th for the Knights (22:16) but the remainder of Calvin's pack
was splintered up as sophomore Kimby Penning (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids
Christian HS) was 36th (22:54), freshman Mackenzie Diemer (Caledonia/South
Christian HS) 39th (23:01), junior Alyssa Oram (Cheboygan) 42nd (23:07) and
sophomore Lizzy Vannette (Visalia, CA/Valley Christian HS) 63rd (23:38).
"We had a little separation with our second group," said Brian Diemer who also
is head coach of the women's team. "The key for our runners is to stay in
contact with a teammate and we got broken up a bit with that strategy. We are
still hopeful that our team will receive an at-large selection for next week
and if that happens, we will use the lessons learned today next Saturday."
By placing in the top 35, Michmerhuizen, Penning and Ardinger all earned spots
on the Great Lakes All-Region team.
Received on Sun Nov 11 00:06:54 2012
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