CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR NOVEMBER 17, 2012
VOLLLEYBALL
St. Thomas 3, Calvin 2
(Story by Mitch Blankespoor)
HOLLAND, MI – The Calvin College women’s volleyball team fell short in its bid
for a second national title in three seasons. Down two sets to none, the
University of St. Thomas Tommies came back to win a thrilling five set match in
from of a record crowd of 3,517 fans by scores of 13-25, 17-25, 25-18, 25-16,
15-9.
Calvin started out hot. Three kills from sophomore Emily Crowe (Granger,
IN/Mishawaka Penn), Lizzie Kamp (Orland Park, IL/Chicago Christian) and Maggie
Kamp (Orland Park, IL/Chicago Christian) gave the Knights a 15-9 lead into the
media timeout. Lizzie Kamp then stepped up to the service line with the
scoreboard reading 17-10. Two service aces and two attack errors from the
Tommies gave Calvin the 21-10 lead. A Jen Pluymert (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids
Christian) service ace gave the Knights the first set the lead.
Calvin hit a blistering .458 clip in the first set while holding St. Thomas to
a .103 attacking percentage.
The Knights kept up their hot streak, winning the first three points of the
set. Both teams traded side outs until the media timeout, with Calvin leading
15-12. Calvin outscored St. Thomas 10-5 after the timeout. Two consecutive
attack errors from Tommie middle hitter Kelly Foley gave Calvin the second set
victory.
Calvin continued its torrid hitting pace, hitting a .467 clip. St. Thomas hit
.156.
“I thought we came out with the right mindset,” Calvin head coach Amber
Warners said after the match. “I give a ton of credit to St. Thomas, they were
resilient.”
Resilient is exactly what the Tommies were. St. Thomas earned an 8-4
advantage with kills from McKenna Reagan, who had not seen action in either of
the first two sets. Calvin was able to cut the deficit to three points on
three different occasions, but could not tie up the set. Freshmen setter Sarah
Kosbab served six straight points, and St. Thomas coasted to a third set
victory.
St. Thomas continued to get better, hitting a .245 clip in the third set.
Calvin seemed like a different team entirely, hitting a mere .091.
Each team won six of the first 12 points in the fourth set. The Tommies went
on a 9-3 run from a service run by senior libero Kaiti Wachter. Calvin got as
close as four points at 16-12. Three attack errors from the Knights gave the
Tommies the fourth set.
The fifth set started tied at 4-4, then St. Thomas went on a 4-1 run. This
proved to be lethal for the Knights. A block from Kelly Foley and Jill
Greenfield gave the Tommies their first national title in program history.
The Tommies were led by Greenfield, who was later named the NCAA III
Tournament’s Most Valuable Player, and Kelly Foley. Each recorded 14 kills.
Sarah Atkinson hit a .455 clip while recording 12 kills.
Calvin was led by Crowe, who hit a .407 clip while scoring 14 kills. Junior
setter Megan Rietema (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian) dished out 45
assists. Lizzie and Maggie Kamp each recorded 12 kills.
Calvin finishes its season with a record of 33-3 and a national runner-up
finish. The senior class for the Knights, consisting of Lizzie Kamp, Jen
Pluymert, Julia Hilbrands (Grand Rapids Christian), Kelly Gordon
(Caledonia/South Christian), Becca Ratkov (New Baltimore/Anchor Bay) and Megan
Korber (Gilford, NH/Gilford) leave the Calvin volleyball program as the most
successful class in program history.
With a career record of 124-15, this group of six women impacted the program
on and off the court.
“These six ladies are like my daughters,” Warners said after the match. “I
would do anything for them, and I know they will do anything for me. They will
be greatly missed, but have left a great impact on this program.”
MEN'S AND WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
Story by Mark DeHaan
TERRE HAUTE, IN - An usually warm day in the middle of November created the
perfect setting for the Division III Cross Country National Championships in
Terre Haute, Indiana, on Saturday. A Great Lakes Regional Championship and a
No. 3 National ranking led to high expectations for the men’s team coming into
the day, while an at-large bid for the women made things a little more unknown
leading into the race.
The Calvin men responded with a pair of All-American performances from seniors
Nick Kramer and Job Christiansen. The Knights held the unofficial lead at the
6-kilometer mark of the race, but a fade down the stretch by a few Calvin
runners let the lead slip out of their hands. The Knights finished with 188
points as a team, 21 behind first place North Central and tied with No. 1
ranked Haverford. Wisconsin-La Crosse finished fourth with 190 points.
The women, ranked 15th in the nation coming into the meet, could not grab an
All-American spot or a top 100 finish, and took 18th as a team with 413
points.
Kramer, Calvin’s top finisher, took 26th place individually in 25:02.6 despite
running with an injury. Christiansen crossed the line next for the Knights,
taking 35th in 25:05.6 Senior Dan Kerr came in behind Christiansen at 25:15.1,
good for 43rd place as an individual. Rounding out Calvin’s top five was junior
Matt VanderRoest, who finished 67th in 25:30.4 and senior David VandeBunte, who
took 79th in 25:35.5. Senior Greg Whittle took 90th and was Calvin’s sixth
finisher in 25:40.4, while junior Sam Kerk finished in 26:42.1, 223rd as an
individual.
“We got out well, except Dan Kerr – it turns out he went down at the 300 meter
mark into the race,” said men’s cross country head coach Brian Diemer. “He
started out somewhere back behind 100th place, he picked himself up, and ran a
fantastic race, finishing in 46th. Nick Kramer ran valiantly coming back from a
stress fracture. Job Christiansen ran the race of his life, finishing
All-American. Our pack came through – Matt VanderRoest with a stress fracture
in his leg, giving it all he had for the team. It honestly took all of these
guys coming through to make (2nd place) happen. We ended up tying with
Haverford, and beat Wisconsion-Lacrosse, who was fourth place, by two points.
It took everybody doing everything they could – its amazing you run a long race
like that and it comes down to a small margin.”
“A lot of runners, if they fell like Dan, would have stayed on the ground and
been upset because they wouldn’t get their individual award,” said assistant
coach Al Hoekstra. “But Dan got up, he fought back for the team, and we got
second place. If he hadn’t gotten back up and fought back, we would have been
fourth.”
The women’s top finisher was sophomore Kate Ardinger, who came in 100th as an
individual in 22:46.6 Freshman McKenzie Diemer followed Ardinger in with a time
of 22:52.4, good for 111th. Junior Christine Harley was just behind Diemer,
taking 114th in 22:54.3. Senior Alyssa Penning took 132nd in 22:58.4, while
younger sister and sophomore Kimby Penning rounded out Calvin’s top five in
149th with a time of 23:07.3 Alyssa Oram finished in 153rd in 23:10.9, while
junior Nicole Michmerhuizen took 220th in 23:43.1.
“Up front, we got a little excited – our first two probably got out a little
too hard,” said Diemer, also the women’s cross country head coach. “Our pack
ran strong, and really finished well, that was neat to see. We came up short,
but we developed a lot, and this is going to make us better in the future.”
With the national runner-up performance, Christiansen, Kerr, Kramer,
VandeBunte, and Whittle all end their cross country running careers. On the
women’s side, Alyssa Penning ran her final cross country race as a Calvin
Knight.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 83, North Park 54
Calvin rolled to the championship of its own Calvin Tipoff Tournament,
defeating North Park 83-54 in the title tilt. The championship victory is
Calvin's ninth in 12 years.
Calvin broke the game open with a 14-0 run to end the first half, en route to
taking a 43-25 lead at intermission.
Calvin kept the pressure on in the second half and never looked back.
Sophomore Jordan Brink (Dyer, IN/Illiana Christian HS) and senior Tom Snikkers
(Jenison/Unity Christian HS) had 13 points apiece while junior center Tyler
Kruis (Grand Rapids/Calvin Christian HS) had 12 points. For his efforts over
the weekend, Kruis was named the tournament MVP and was joined on the
all-tournament team from Calvin by senior Bryan Powell (Wyoming/Wyoming Park
HS). Junior Mickey DeVries (Lansing/Lansing Christian HS) also had eight points
and 12 rebounds off the bench while Powell had nine points - all from beyond
the three-point arc.
North Park was led by Zach Cassita with 14 points while Ryan Hyrn had 13
points.
Calvin held a 47-24 rebounding advantage.
In the consolation game, Grand Bible defeated Cairn University 94-46. Also
named to the all-tournament team were Charles Hopkins of Cairn and Zach Schutte
of Grace Bible.
The Knights will host Anderson University on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
DECATUR, IL - In a rematch of last year's NCAA III Tournament second round
game, Wisconsin-Stevens Point handed Calvin an 84-63 defeat. Ranked seventh in
the D3hoops.com Top 25 preseason poll, Stevens Point led 45-25 at halftime and
continued to maintain a healthy lead throughout the second half.
Senior Carissa Verkaik (Holland/Holland Christian HS) led Calvin with 14
points and in doing so, moved past Lisa Winkle to become Calvin's all-time
leading scorer. Verkaik now has 1,734 career points.
Senior Logan Marsh (Byron Center/Byron Center HS) was the only other Calvin
player to reach double-digits in scoring as she tallied 11 points including
three triples.
Calvin committed 19 turnovers in the loss while Stevens Point racked up 12
steals. Preseason All-American Sam Barber led Stevens Point with 26 points
while Liz Althoff had 16 points.
Calvin returns to action on Tuesday when it hosts Manchester at 5:30 p.m. at
Van Noord Arena.
CALVIN ALL-TIME LEADING SCORING LIST
1,734 – Carissa Verkaik 2009-present
1,721 – Lisa Winkle, 2003-2007
1,550 – Marcia Harris, 2005-2009
1,332 -- Kerry Walters, 1995-1999
1,288 -- Sarah Ondersma, 1987-1991
1,285 -- Sharon Boeve, 1982-1985
1,261 – Mindi Andringa, 1997-2000
1,194 -- Eileen Boonstra, 1977-1981
1,170 – Kristen McDonald (2001-2005)
1,146 -- Judy Wasmer, 1982-1985
1,103 -- Pam Wubben, 1990-1994
1,007 – Julie Post, 1984-1988
1,003 – Brook Van Eck, 2006-2010
Received on Sun Nov 18 01:02:34 2012
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