CKSR (Cross Country Teams Compete at Notre Dame Invite/Volleyball Survives Friday Night Scare at Albion)

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR OCTOBER 4, 2013

Cross Country Teams Compete at Notre Dame Invite;
Volleyball Survives Friday Night Scare at Albion

MEN'S AND WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY

NOTRE DAME, IN - The Calvin men's and women's cross country teams competed at the prestigious Notre Dame Invitational on Friday afternoon. In the women's gold division, eighth-ranked Calvin took seventh in the 5K race with a team score of 269 points in a field made up primarily of Division I and Division II opponents. On the men's side, 22nd-ranked Calvin took 13th in the 8K race with 334 points.

In the men's race, Calvin finished just behind 12th place Wabash (288 points) in a matchup of the top-two ranked teams in the Great Lakes Region. Division II Grand Valley State took the win with 40 points while top-ranked Division III North Central was second with 78 points.

Freshman Zac Nowicki (Comstock Park/Calvin Christian HS) led the Knights by placing 40th in a time of 26:32. Senior Sam Kerk (Hartland, WI/Lake Country Lutheran HS) had one of his best races of the year, finishing 45th in 26:36. Calvin's pack was then splintered up as junior Josh Ferguson (Naperville, IL/Neuqua Valley HS) was 80th (27:01), senior Philip Spitzer (Buckley/Buckley HS) 90th (27:11), freshman Jonathan Schaap (Mahomet, IL/Mahomet-Seymour HS) 104th (27:25), junior Jacob Kuyvenhoven (Grand Rapids, MI/Grand Rapids Christian HS) 116th (27:35) and freshman Nathan Van Haitsma (Olympia, WA/Olympia HS) in 124th (27:39) to round out Calvin's top group.

In the women's race, Southern Illinois took first with 52 points followed by Grand Valley State with 63. Senior Nicole Michmerhuizen (Holland/Holland Christian HS) was the top finisher for Calvin, placing 26th in a time of 18:22. Senior Rebekah Folkema (Renfrew, ON/Renfrew Collegiate Institute) was Calvin's second finisher, placing 48th in a time of 18:44 while senior Alyssa Oram (Chebogyan/Home Schooled) was close behind in 51st with a time of 14:46.

Calvin junior Kimby Penning (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) was Calvin's fourth finisher, placing 73rd in 19:01 while junior Sarah Danner (Watkins Glen, NY/Charles Dickerson HS) was 75th in 19:02.
Rounding out Calvin's top seven were junior Kate Ardinger (Elmhurst, IL/Timothy Christian HS) in 98th (19:20) and junior Rachel Folkema (Renfrew, ON/Renfrew Collegiate Institute) in 106th (19:24).

Calvin is back in action next Friday when it competes at the Michigan Intercollegiates hosted by Hillsdale College.

VOLLEYBALL
Calvin 3, Albion 1

ALBION - The top-ranked Calvin women's volleyball team received a Friday night scare at Albion before prevailing 25-9, 25-13, 22-25, 26-24.

The Knights improve to 17-0 overall and to 9-0 in the MIAA. Calvin has now won 47 consecutive MIAA matches. Friday marked Calvin's first lost set against an MIAA opponent since the MIAA Tournament finals last fall when the Knights outlasted Hope in five sets.

Through the opening two sets, it appear Calvin would breeze its way to another three-set win, hitting .500 as a team in both set one and two.
Albion (5-12 overall, 1-8 MIAA) turned the tide around in set three with six service aces while Calvin committed four service errors.

In set four, Calvin fell behind 23-20 but rallied to tie the score at 23 and the fought off a set point at 24-23 as sophomore Maggie Kamp (Orland Park, IL/Chicago Christian HS) came up with a clutch kill to tie the score at 24.

Junior Ellie Diepersloot (Madera, CA/Chowchilla HS) then delivered a go-ahead kill to make it 25-24. The Diepersloot smash came off a lengthy rally forcing an Albion timeout. Out of the timeout, the Britons recorded an attack error, allowing the Knights to escape Kresge Gymnasium with a four-set win.

Calvin hit .391 as a team but committed 12 service errors. The Knights also came up with just four total blocks over the course of the four-set match.

Maggie Kamp led Calvin in the kill department with 18 - eight of which came in the clinching fourth set. Senior setter Megan Rietema (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) just missed a triple-double with 42 assists, 10 kills and nine digs. Diepersloot was again a threat on the outside, recording 12 kills and a hiting percentage of .429. Freshman Laura Danhoff (Willard, OH/Willard HS) chipped in with seven kills.

Senior libero Kristen Zietse (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) tallied 24 digs. Danhoff, Zietse and junior Elise Biesboer (Elmhurst, IL/Timothy Christian HS) tallied two service aces apiece.

Calvin returns home to face Alma on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Van Noord Arena.

MIAA VOLLEYBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 10-4-13 MATCHES

Calvin 9-0
Hope 8-1
Trine 5-4
Alma 4-5
Kalamazoo 4-5
Olivet 4-5
Saint Mary's 4-5
Adrian 1-7
Albion 1-8
Received on Fri Oct 4 22:37:04 2013