CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR NOVEMBER 15, 2013
Volleyball Holds Off Mount Union in Five Sets in NCAA III Tournament;
Women's Soccer Defeats Aurora 1-0 in Double-OT in NCAA III Tournament;
Women's Basketball Opens Season with 65-45 Win at Lakeland
VOLLEYBALL
For the fourth consecutive year, the Calvin women's volleyball team has advanced to the NCAA III Regional finals. The Knights advanced to the regional final in similar fashion, once again defeating Mount Union in a five-set second round thriller at Van Noord Arena. A year ago, Calvin defeated the Purple Raiders in five sets, winning by scores of 25-12, 23-25, 25-21, 24-26, 15-6. On Friday, Calvin won in much the same way, winning by scores of 25-11, 23-25, 25-20, 23-25, 15-8.
Top-ranked Calvin (31-1) will meet 10th-ranked Wittenberg (25-8) in the regional final Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Van Noord Arena. It marks the fourth consecutive year that the two teams will meet in the regional final with Calvin winning in 2010 and 2012 and Wittenberg winning in 2011.
In its win over ninth-ranked Mount Union Friday night, Calvin rolled through set one, hitting at a .371 clip. The Knights then led 22-17 in set two only to see the Purple Raiders rip off six unanswered points to take a 23-22 lead. Calvin tied the set at 23 but Mount Union scored the next two points to even the match.
After a set three win, the Knights went for the win in set four but committed five service errors in the set to fall behind 18-13. Calvin rallied to within a point at 24-23 but a kill by Mount Union's Taylor Webb closed out the set and forced a deciding set five.
Mount Union (31-5) grabbed a 5-4 lead in set five but the Knights went on to rip off a 9-1 lead to build a 13-6 lead. A pair of attack errors by Mount Union allowed Calvin to claim the final two points.
Calvin senior setter Megan Rietema tallied her first collegiate triple-double in the win, recording 11 kills, 46 assists and 16 digs. Sophomore Maggie Kamp came up with a match-high 24 kills for the Knights to go with 13 digs. Juniors Emily Crowe and Ellie Diepersloot had 11 and 10 kills respectively for the Knights. Senior libero Kristen Zietse had a career-high 33 digs for the Knights.
"We knew that Mount Union was a very talented team that had very few weaknesses and that they would be ready to play us," said Calvin women's volleyball coach Amber Warners. "One thing we have stressed is not to focus on our opponent but to focus on ourselves. We wanted to bring our 'A' game and I thought we did that tonight."
Mount Union received 18 kills from Taylor Webb while Nicole Snyder had 11 kills. Lauren Mastroine had a match-high 35 digs for the Purple Raiders.
WOMEN'S SOCCER
Calvin 1, Aurora 0 (2OT)
By Mark DeHaan
ST. LOUIS, MO - The Knights traveled to St. Louis for an NCAA Tournament first round contest against a familiar foe on Friday evening. Calvin women's soccer was matched up against the Spartans of Aurora University for the second year in a row, a Spartan squad whom Calvin defeated 1-0 in overtime last season. In a game eerily simaler to a year ago, the Knights once again defeated Aurora 1-0 - this time in double overtime. For the second straight year, the game-winning overtime goal also came off the foot of Calvin's Paige Capel.
On Friday night, the first half was largely played in the Spartan's favor.
With just over five minutes remaining in the first half, Aurora had a good chance on net that was tipped just wide by a diving Ashton Hearn.
Calvin had a good opportunity in the 42nd minute. Sophomore Christina Drost settled a ball in the middle of the box, but the ensuing shot was right at the keeper and the game remained scoreless.
Aurora held a 12-3 shots advantage in the opening period. Drost's shot in the 42nd minute was Calvin's lone chance on goal.
Out of the break, sophomore Taylor TenHarmsel had a strong header on net off a cross from sophomore Paige Capel in the 51st minute that was saved by the Aurora keeper.
The Knights had another prime opportunity in the 60th minute. Sophomore Sydney Kinney sent a ball toward the far post that was played toward net by senior Kelly Koets, but her shot was saved.
In the 75th minute, Aurora had perhaps the most dangerous attempt on net of the contest up to that point. A free kick was sent into the Calvin box at the far post, where a shot was skied over the crossbar from just a couple feet out.
The remainder of the second half clock ticked off, and just like last season, the game headed into overtime.
At the end of regulation, Aurora's shot margin had increased to 22-8. Both teams entered the contest undefeated in overtime play, with the Knights coming in at 3-0-2 and Aurora at 3-0-0.
Drost had a strong opportunity in the 93rd minute, trying to beat the keeper near post but the shot was saved. The first overtime passed without a ball finding the back of the net.
The second overtime then provided what was seemingly a moment of deja vu for the Knights. Senior Heidi Scholten sent a ball to Capel past the Aurora defense. Gaining just a half step on her defender and letting the ball settle to her left foot, Capel rocketed a shot from the middle of the box past the Spartan keeper top shelf to end the game on a golden goal, just as she had last year, for a 1-0 Calvin victory.
The Knights were outshot by the Spartans 26-11. Hearn made nine saves in net to earn the well-deserved shutout - the 33rd of her career.
The win is also the 200th in the career of head coach Mark Recker, in his 13th season at the helm of the women's soccer program. Recker now has a collegiate record of 200-54-20 for a winning percentage of .752.
"For the most part, Ashton and our defense limited the type of looks their offense could get, and that was key for us," said Recker. "Our defense has been stingy all year and they just continue to be stingy. I wouldn't have wanted to celebrate my 200th win with any other team. My hats off to the players because they play passionately and they battle every minute."
Calvin advances to the second round where it will face host Washington University, the top ranked team in the country.
"I think tomorrow will be an endurance game, and the sad thing for us is we had to play into double overtime," said Recker. "We have a chance to play two number ones in a season. Tomorrow will be a real challenge for us, but this team continues to surprise everyone."
The Knights and Bears will play Saturday evening at 6 p.m.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 65, Lakeland 45
By Mark DeHaan
The Calvin women's basketball team opened up regular season play on Friday evening, traveling to Wisconsin to face the Muskies of Lakeland College.
The Knights took a 12-7 lead midway through the first half, forcing the Muskies into 11 early turnovers by utilizing their new full-court press defensive scheme.
Calvin continued to lead throughout the rest of the first half, taking a 28-20 advantage into the break. Junior Breanna Verkaik led the Knights with 10 points at halftime while senior Kristin Tripp had six on two three-pointers. Calvin forced Lakeland into 19 first-half turnovers.
In the second half, the Knights built their lead to 42-27 with 12:22 remaining in regulation before a timeout from the Muskies. Calvin then reeled off 10 straight points to take its largest lead of the game with 8:19 remaining at 52-27.
Lakeland came no closer than 20 points the remainder of the contest as the Knights closed out a 65-45 victory.
Verkaik led the Knights with 19 points while Tripp added 13. Junior Hannah Acre contributed 10 points off the bench while leading Calvin with eight rebounds. Bailey Grayvold and Trista Barron each scored 10 to lead Lakeland.
Calvin forced the Muskies into 35 turnovers as well as 12-of-44 shooting from the field.
"We did a nice job of forcing them into turnovers but we didn't really capitalize off those turnovers which we need to do a better job of," said head coach John Ross. "This system is going to take time, and I hope we learn within the year. Kirstin did a great job on the threes, and our leaders really stepped up tonight which was really good for us to have."
Calvin is now 1-0 on the season while Lakeland falls to 0-1.
The Knights return to action next Tuesday when they open their conference schedule with Hope at home. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Received on Sat Nov 16 00:09:46 2013
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