CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR NOVEMBER 21, 2012
Amber Warners Named Division III National Coach of the Year in Women's
Volleyball;
Volleyball Team Finishes Second in Final AVCA Division III Top 25 Poll of the
Year;
Calvin in Second Place in First Set of Learfield Director's Cup Division III
Standings
VOLLEYBALL
Lexington, Ky. (November 21, 2012) - The American Volleyball Coaches
Association (AVCA) has announced that Calvin College head women's volleyball
coach Amber Warners has been selected as the 2012 AVCA Division III National
Coach of the Year. It marks the second time in three years that Warners has
received the honor as she also received the award in 2010. She will officially
receive the award at the Jostens Coaches Honors Luncheon in Louisville, Ky. on
Thursday, December 13. The luncheon is held in conjunction with the 2012 AVCA
Annual Convention.
In her 11th year at the helm of the Calvin women's volleyball program, Warners
has built a Division III powerhouse, leading the Knights to nine consecutive
NCAA Tournaments. In 2012, Calvin once again proved it was one of the top teams
in the nation, reaching the national championship match for the second time in
three seasons, falling to the University of St. Thomas (Minn.) at Hope College
after winning it all in 2010. Entering the NCAA Tournament,Calvin was ranked
No. 1 in the nation and never fell below a No. 3 ranking the entire year.
It was not an easy route in Calvin’s latest path to the NCAA Championship
Match, defeating three teams ranked in the AVCA Coaches Top-25poll entering the
tournament in No. 13 Mount Union, No. 2 Wittenberg, No. 12 Puget Sound and No.
5 Christopher Newport, playing hard-fought five-set matches in two of those
four matches. Ending the season with a 33-3 record, the Knights opened the
season 20-0 before losing to Elmhurst. After the loss, they went on a 13-match
winning streak with seven of them coming as sweeps.
The 1990 Calvin graduate has won the Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year four
times in her illustrious career, including the 2010 AVCA National Coach of the
Year. However, it has been her ability to coach and mentor her student-athletes
that makes her one of the nation’s best. Two-time AVCA All-Americans Megan
Rietema and Lizzie Kamp each made the first team in 2012including AVCA National
Player of the Year in Kamp. It is the second consecutive NPOY Warners has
coached after Kamp’s older sister Rebecca won the honor in 2011.
In 11 years as Calvin's coach, Warners has compiled a won-loss record of
328-60 for a winning percentage of .845. In 12 years as a collegiate head
coach, she has compiled a won-loss record of 349-71 for a winning percentage of
.831. Heading into the 2012 season, she was ranked second among active NCAA III
coaches for career winning percentage. She has led Calvin to nine consecutive
NCAA III Tournament berths and has compiled six seasons of 30 wins or more
during her Calvin volleyball coaching career.
Warners is a native of Holland and a graduate of Holland Christian High
School. After receiving her undergraduate degree from Calvin in 1990, she
earned a master's degree and Ph.D from Michigan State University in sports
psychology. She is an associate professor in Calvin's department of
kinesiology. Her Calvin volleyball teams have sparkled in the classroom,
receiving the MIAA's Team GPA Award 10 times for maintaining a grade point
average of 3.30 or above. She has also coached two Capital One Academic
All-Americans including Capital One Academic All-American of the Year Rebecca
Kamp in 2011.
Warners is a former two-sport standout for Calvin in volleyball and softball.
As a softball player, Warners was a member of six Calvin teams that captured
MIAA Championships -- three in softball and three in volleyball. Calvin also
earned six NCAA III tournament bids -- three each in softball and volleyball.
She was a member of Calvin softball teams finished fifth in the nation in 1989
and fourth in 1990, and a member of the Calvin volleyball team that finished
second nationally in 1986. As a volleyball player, she was twice named the
league’s most valuable player as a setter and was named to the All-MIAA first
team three times. As a softball player, she was an outfielder.
As a Calvin College senior, Warners was honored with the Kay Tiemersma Award,
an award presented annually to the varsity women's athlete who best exemplifies
athletic ability, scholastic standing, and character and leadership.
Warners previously taught at Holland Christian High School where she coached
softball and volleyball. In 1994, she guided the Maroons to the Class B
Volleyball State Championship game. Warners also served as the interim head
volleyball coach at Hope College in 1994, compiling a 21-11 record.
Warners has also served an eight-year tenure as Calvin’s softball coach where
she led the Knights to pair of NCAA III Tournament berths. In 1997, she took
Calvin all the way to the NCAA III Softball World Series where she was honored
as Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year.
She and her husband Mark have three sons: Emmett, Carson and Tanner. Also a
Calvin graduate, Mark is a teacher at Grand Rapids Christian High School.
MORE VOLLEYBALL
The final AVCA Division III Top 25 poll has been released and Calvin is ranked
second in the final poll. National champion St. Thomas is the top-ranked team
while Christopher Newport is ranked third, Elmhurst fourth, Wittenberg fifth,
Emory sixth, Hope seventh, Washington-St. Louis eighth, Puget Sound ninth and
Cal Lutheran 10th. Against teams ranked in the final top 10, Calvin posted a
7-3 record this fall. Against teams ranked in the final AVCA Division III Top
25 poll, Calvin posted an 11-3 record this season.
The final AVCA Division III Top 25 poll can be found online at:
http://www.avca.org/divisions/division-three-women/poll-11-20-12/
LEARFIELD DIRECTOR'S CUP UPDATE
The first set of Division III Learfield Director's Cup standings have been
released and Calvin is currently in second place with 233.50 points. The first
set of standings include the sports of men's and women's cross country, women's
field hockey and volleyball. Middlebury leads the standings with 256.50 points.
Calvin received 90 points from its national runner-up women's volleyball team
and men's cross country team and 56 points from its women's cross country team
that placed 18th at the NCAA III Championships last weekend.
The Learfield Director's Cup is based on points earned by teams that compete
in NCAA Championship events and is presented annually by the National
Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) to the best overall
collegiate athletics program in the country. The Learfield Director's Cup race
is held at the NCAA I, II and III levels and also for NAIA institutions.
Points are awarded based on each institution's finish in NCAA III Championship
competition in up to 18 sports -- nine for men and nine for women. Each
national champion receives 100 points with a national runner-up finish worth 90
points. Third place is worth 85 points and fourth place finishes count for 80
points with a sliding point scale continuing on down by order of finish.
Competition will continue with the winter sports season and finish with the
conclusion of the spring sports season in May. Calvin will also score points in
men’s and women’s soccer in the fall standings but the championship competition
for both sports are still underway.
A year ago, Calvin finished 24th in the final Division III standings with a
total of 483.50 points.
The latest set of NCAA Division III standings can be found online at:
http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/nacda/sports/directorscup/auto_pdf/2012-13/misc_non_event/nov21dIIIrelease.pdf
Calvin is one of only six schools in the country to finish in the top 25 every
year that the competition has been held at the NCAA III level. Joining Calvin
in that elite group are Williams, Mass., Amherst, Mass., Middlebury, Vt., the
State University of New York at Cortland and Emory, Ga.
Received on Wed Nov 21 18:09:56 2012
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