CALVIN KNIGHT SAT. SPORTS REPORT FOR April 20, 2013
MEN'S TENNIS
Calvin 7, Albion 2
By Mitch Blankespoor
Story by Mitch Blankespoor
ALBION, MI - The Calvin College men’s tennis team clinched a share of the MIAA
conference championship for the first time in school history Fri. with a 7-2
win at Albion. The Knights improve to 14-4 on the season and a perfect 6-0 in
the MIAA.
Calvin jumped out to an early lead in the match, winning all three doubles
flights. The top two flights, however, were hotly contested.
Calvin seniors Preston Phillips (Bexley, OH/Bexley) and Phil Reinken (Morton,
IL/Morton HS) pulled out a 9-8 (7-5) victory over Albion senior Tucker Blake
(Bloomfield Hills/Birmingham Seaholm) and freshmen Eric Guidini
(Plymouth/Detroit Catholic Central) at first doubles.
Calvin senior Brian DeMaagd (Grandville/Calvin Christian) and junior Loukus
Peterson (Brentwood, TN/Brentwood HS) defeated the Albion second doubles team
of freshman Jonathan Gurnee (Midland/Dow) and sophomore Aaron Stanley
(Flint/Carman-Ainsworth) 9-7.
Calvin won the third doubles flight without much resistance. Senior Jarrod
Brower (Holland/Holland Christian) and junior John Strikwerda (Holland/Holland
Christian) defeated junior Steve Nawrocki (Lake Orion/Lake Orion HS) and Will
Pearl 8-3.
The Knights needed just three of the six singles flights to clinch a share of
their first MIAA title in program history. The Knights did that and more,
winning four singles matches.
DeMaagd won a 7-6(5), 6-0 match over Gurnee at first singles. Peterson
defeated Stanley 6-1, 6-1 at fourth singles. Jarrod Brower took care of Ross
Kynast (Highland/International Academy) 6-3, 7-5 at fifth singles. Sophomore
Tom Griffin (Elmhurst, IL/Timothy Christian) defeated Pearl 6-3, 6-1 at sixth
singles.
“Our seniors worked really hard all summer and have been really determined
this year,” said Calvin head coach John Ross on clinching a share of the
conference championship. “We are excited, but realize we have a lot of work to
do yet.”
Calvin travels to Holland to face the Flying Dutchmen of Hope College on Apr.
23. Calvin clinches the top seed in the MIAA Tournament and an outright
conference title with a win. The match is slated to start at 3:00 p.m.
WOMEN'S TENNIS
Calvin 8, Olivet 1
By Mitch Blankespoor
Story by Mitch Blankespoor
OLIVET, MI - The Calvin women’s tennis team won its second consecutive MIAA
match with an 8-1 victory over Olivet Sat. afternoon. Calvin improves to 4-11
on the season and 2-4 in the MIAA.
Calvin won all three doubles flights. The first doubles flight came down to a
single game, but junior Bethany Zoerhof (Holland/Holland Christian) sophomore
Megan Visser (Kalamazoo/Kalamazoo Christian) defeated Caitlin LaValley (Battle
Creek/Pennefield) and Jennifer Lightner (Eaton Rapids/Charlotte) 9-7.
Seniors Elise Doezema (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian) and Jordan Ipema
(Kalamazoo/Kalamazoo Christian) won 8-0 at second doubles while sophomores
Samantha Reitsma (Northpointe Christian) and Ali Roode (Hudsonville/Unity
Christian) won the third doubles flight 8-1.
Calvin won all but one singles flight, and won flights two through five in
convincing fashion. No Knight gave up more than two games in any of the five
matches they won.
Calvin returns to action Mon., Apr. 22, when it travels to Angola, Ind. to
face Trine in a amtch scheduled to start at 4:00 p.m.
MEN'S LACROSSE
Calvin 3, Alma 2 (OT)
By Mark DeHaan
Hosting the Scots of Alma for a Saturday afternoon conference matchup, the
Calvin Knights earned a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory to pick up the first
MIAA victory in program history.
Alma scored the first goal under five minutes into the game to take the lead.
With 1:59 remaining in the first, junior Tim Marco responded for Calvin by
scoring a goal on the end of a wrap-around run from behind the net to tie the
game at 1-1.
In the second quarter, both teams played strong defense as each squad
withstood two man-down opportunities to keep the game knotted at 1-1 heading
into the half.
A scoreless third quarter then set up an exciting final period of regulation
for both teams.
In the fourth quarter, senior goalkeeper Drew Sroczynski played an important
role in keeping Calvin in the game despite an onslaught of Alma shots.
Sroczynski recorded all four of his saves in the game in the fourth quarter.
The seesaw battle continued with 2:53 remaining as Calvin took the 2-1 lead on
another goal from Marco. Marco's goal ended a scoreless drought of almost 45
minutes in the game.
Despite a momentum shift in the Knights' favor, the Scots picked up their
intensity, and just 32 seconds later, tied the game at 2-2 on a goal from Tyler
Bennett. The final two minutes ran off the clock and the teams headed into
overtime.
Alma won the opening face-off of the extra period, but the possession ended in
a shot which sailed high. After a Calvin turnover, strong defense by the
Knights ended an Alma possession in a turnover which led to a man-up
counterattack for the Knights.
Taking the ball up through the midfield, freshman Brandon Pott drew a defender
before passing off to junior Casey Harless. Wide open with a clear look at net,
Harless ripped a shot toward the back post which found net and gave the Knights
a walk-off, sudden-death 3-2 overtime victory.
Calvin held Alma to 0-for-5 on extra-man opportunities while also forcing the
Scots into 39 turnovers. The Knights held a 40-37 ground ball advantage while
Alma outshot Calvin 22-20 in the game, 9-2 in the fourth quarter.
“It's good to get some validation for the work (our team) has been putting in.
We're going to keep working hard at building the culture and putting the
program out there, and it was good to have the opportunity to do that today in
a conference way” said head coach Joel Kamstra. “Drew (Scrozynski) really held
in there today – if we didn't have the big saves from Drew we wouldn't have
been in the situation we were heading into overtime. Tim Marco, another player
who really came out today, dug deep. We tried to work the ball into his stick
to see what he could do with it and it paid off.”
Calvin is now 2-10 overall and 1-3 in the MIAA while Alma moves to 4-10
overall and 0-5 in conference play. The Knights now look forward to Wednesday
when they travel to Holland to face the rival Flying Dutchmen of Hope College
as part of a women's-men's lacrosse doubleheader.
Calvin faced Hope earlier in the year in a non-conferencing meeting, with Hope
earning an 18-5 victory. Wednesday night's matchup is slated to start at 7
p.m.
WOMEN'S LACROSSE
Pacific 10, Calvin 3
By Mark DeHaan
The Calvin women's lacrosse team took a weekend break from its conference
schedule on Saturday to host Pacific University of Oregon at Zuidema Field.
Unfortunately for the Knights, a slow start allowed the Boxers to jump out to a
6-0 lead en route to a 10-3 victory.
Pacific scored its first goal of the match under five minutes in to take a 1-0
lead.
With 20:38 remaining, the Boxers added a second goal, taking advantage of a
Calvin penalty and a man-up situation to extend its lead to 2-0.
Off the draw, Pacific went straight to goal, and sixteen seconds after its
previous goal, added another to make the score 3-0.
The Boxers then extended their lead to 6-0 with three more goals over the next
twelve minutes.
With 8:48 remaining, the Knights were able to get on the board as sophomore
Nikita Blaauwendraat took advantage of a free position attempt and put the ball
in the back of the net to make the score 6-1, which is where the teams would
stand as they went into halftime.
Out of the intermission, Pacific added two more goals before junior Michelle
Holwerda responded with a goal of her own to cut the Boxers lead to 8-2.
After another Pacific goal, Blaauwendraat added her second of the contest to
make the score 9-3.
A final Boxers goal came with 0:28 remaining in regulation, and the game would
end at a 10-3 score in Pacific's favor.
Blaawendraat scored two goals on the afternoon while Holwerda added one.
Senior Yelena Davis led the Knights with five groundballs.
For Pacific, Amy Mayhugh scored three goals while Kaitlyn Harper added two
goals and one assist.
“It was a bit of a slow start for us, and Pacific was able to get out to a bit
of a lead,” said head coach Blake Boehm. “I think a lot of that is winning in
the middle of the field. We called a time out, adjusted some things, and we
started to win a few more of the 50-50 balls, which slowed them down quite a
bit, but coming back fromm behind is always tough. The team kept its spirits
up, stayed focused on what it had to do, but it just wasn't enough (for the
win) today.”
Calvin moves to 3-11 on the year while Pacific is now 8-4. The Knights return
to conference action on Wednesday against rival Hope College. The game will be
played at Hope, with the game scheduled to start at 4 p.m.
MEN'S AND WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD
ALLENDALE - Forced to move inside because of cold, icy conditions, the Calvin
men's and women's track and field teams still put together a solid day of
performances at the Al Owens Invitational hosted by Grand Valley State on
Saturday inside the Kelly Family Sports Center.
In the women's competition, junior Julie Busscher (Hudsonville/Unity Christian
HS) had a stellar day, finishing third in the 60 meter dash (8.02) and second
in the 200 meters (25.88). In the 800 meters, junior Rachel Folkema (Renfrew,
ON/Collegiate Institute) and junior Olivia Butler (Grant/Grant HS) tied for
third in a time of 2:16.41 while sophomore Breanna Verkaik (Holland/Holland
Christian HS) took fifth in 2:16.66. In the 1,500 meters, senior Kaylea Brase
(Lino Lakes, MN/Centennial HS) was fifth (4:43.96).
In the 3,000 meters, senior Alyssa Penning (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids
Christian HS) was fourth (10:23.82) and sophomore McKenzie Diemer
(Caledonia/South Christian HS) fifth (10:29.88). In the 300 meter hurdles,
sophomore Kelley Tuinenga (Grand Rapids/South Christian HS) was third (47.38).
Field events were also a strength for the Calvin women's team as junior Lauren
Madden (Orland Park, IL/Chicago Christian HS) took first in the javelin
(111-5). Junior Hilary Banning (Whitsinville, MA/Whitinsville Christian HS)
took second in the triple jump (35-10 1/2) and added a seventh place finish in
the long jump (16-11 1/2). In the pole vault, sophomore Christina Geating
(Abington, PA/Abington HS) had a season-best in vaulting 10-10 1/4. In the shot
put, freshman Natalie Kmet (Paw Paw/Paw Paw HS) was fourth (36-11 1/2).
On the men's side, sophomore Erik Holstege (Kewsic, VA/Monticello HS) had
himself a day, winning the 60 meter hurdles in a time of 8.53. Sophomore Calvin
Kuyers (Lansing/Lansing Christian HS) also sparkled, taking third in 39.35).
In the 800 meters, senior Greg Whittle (Galesburg, IL/Galesburg HS) returned
from injury to take third in 1:53.44. In the 1,500 meters, junior Sam Kerk
(Hartland, WI/Lake Country Lutheran HS) was fourth (3:54.41) and senior Matt
VanderRoest (Ann Arbor/Ann Arbor Huron HS) fifth (3:57.45). Sophomore Josh
Ferguson (Naperville, IL/Nequa Valley HS) capped off the meet for the Maroon
and Gold by winning the 3,000 meters (8:50.28).
Both Calvin teams will now prepare for the Hillsdale Relays next weekend.
SOFTBALL
Trine 6, Calvin 4
Trine 13, Calvin 4
ANGOLA, IN - Calvin dropped both ends of a conference doubleheader at
nationally-ranked Trine University Saturday afternoon, falling by scores of 6-4
and 13-4. The Knights are now 12-12 overall and 3-7 in the MIAA.
In game one, Calvin battled the fifth-ranked Thunder (29-3 overall, 12-0 MIAA)
on fairly even footing throughout the game. Calvin took a 2-0 lead on a Trine
error and a run-scoring double by junior Janelle Agrenn (Cadillac/Muskegon
Community College).
Trine came back with four runs in the third to grab a 4-2 advantage. In the
top of the sixth, Calvin placed runners on second and third with no outs but
was unable to score. Trine then added two in the bottom of the sixth to take a
6-2 lead. In the top of the seventh, Calvin trimmed the lead to 6-3 off a Trine
fielding error and then made the score 6-4 on a one-out RBI single by sophomore
Trista Brownlee (Saginaw/Saginaw Valley Lutheran HS). Trine was able to get out
of the inning however with a pop-out and a strikeout.
Calvin outhit Trine 7-6 in the game. Brownlee and junior Lina Avila (Lakewood,
CA/Valley Christian HS) had two hits apiece. Avila, Agren and sophomore Merin
Cok (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) all had doubles. Avila took the
loss in the circle for the Knights, striking out five and walking four to fall
to 6-5 on the year.
In game two, Trine took control early with two runs in the first and three in
the second. Calvin countered with a three-run homer by Brownlee in the bottom
of the third but Trine scored three in the fourth and five in the fifth. Calvin
came back with one more run in the bottom of the fifth as freshman Megan
Rozeveld (Kalamazoo/Kalamazoo Christian HS) blasted her second home run of the
spring. The homer by Brownlee earlier in the game was her first collegiate
roundtripper. She had two hits in the game to raise her season batting average
to .400. Brownlee (3-2) also took the pitching loss for Calvin with junior
Caitlin Callow (Muskegon/Muskegon-Reeths Puffer HS) also seeing time in
relief.
Calvin is back in action on Monday as it travels to Kalamazoo to face
Kalamazoo College in a doubleheader at 3:30 p.m. The game will be played at
Western Michigan University's softball complex.
Received on Sat Apr 20 23:19:18 2013
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