CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR NOVEMBER 20, 2013
Megan Rietema Named AVCA Division III National Player of the Year;
Cassie Vince Named Great Lakes Regional Athlete of Year /Brian Diemer Named Great Lakes Women's Cross Country Coach of Year
VOLLEYBALL
Calvin College senior setter Megan Rietema has been named the Division III National Player of the Year by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. The award was announced this evening at a pre-nationals banquet hosted by Hope College in the school's Haworth Center.
A native of Grand Rapids and a graduate of Grand Rapids Christian High School, Rietema is the third consecutive Calvin volleyball player to receive the honor as former teammates Rebecca Kamp (2011) and Lizzie Kamp (2012) were previously so honored by the AVCA.
The award completes a pair of career bookends for Rietema as she was named the AVCA's Division III National Freshman of the Year in 2010.
At Calvin, Rietema has been a four-year starter at setter including as a freshman on Calvin's 2010 national championship team. In the fourth set of the 2010 NCAA III finals against Emory, she scored the game-winning point on a shot down the sideline.
Yesterday she was named a first team AVCA Division III All-American for the third consecutive year as she was named to the first team.
This year, Rietema was named the MIAA's Most Valuable Player and was also named to the All-MIAA first team for the fourth straight year after helping Calvin gain a share of the final MIAA regular season title while also capturing the MIAA Tournament title. She is just the seventh individual in MIAA history to be named a four-time first team All-MIAA selection in volleyball.
During the season, she was named MIAA Specialty Player of the Week four times. Over the course of her career, she was a 12-time MIAA Specialty Player of the Week selection. She was named the Most Outstanding Player of the season-opening University of Puget Sound Premier Invitational and was later named to the all-tournament team of the Wittenberg Fall Classic in late September.
Last weekend, she was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA III Great Lakes Regional tournament held at Calvin's Van Noord Arena. She also received the same award in 2012 after leading Calvin to an NCAA III regional title.
As a setter, she has turned into a multi-threat as she averages 9.77 assists, 1.93 kills, 2.55 digs and 0.64 blocks-per-set. In Calvin's five-set win over Mount Union in the second round of the NCAA III Regional tournament last weekend, she recorded a triple-double with 46 assists, 16 digs and 11 kills. She carries a season attack percentage of .341.
For a Holland Sentinel story on Rietema, visit the Holland Sentinel website at: http://www.hollandsentinel.com/article/20131120/SPORTS/131129888/2000/NEWS
For an Mlive.com story on Rietema, visit the Mlive.com website at: http://www.mlive.com/smallcolleges/grandrapids/index.ssf/2013/11/calvin_college_setter_megan_ri.html#incart_river
Rietema has helped Calvin gain the number-one ranking in the AVCA Division III Top 25 poll while also advancing to the quarterfinals of the NCAA III Tournament for the third time in four years. Calvin will face the University of Massachusetts Boston in the quarterfinals on Thursday at 3 p.m. at Hope's DeVos Fieldhouse.
A live video feed of the match will be available at: http://www.ncaa.com/championship/liveplayer/player?gameId=382242&date=2013/11/21
A live audio broadcast of the match will be available at: http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/calvin.portal
A live stats scoreboard of the match will be available at: http://www.ncaa.com/game/volleyball-women/d3/2013/11/21/mass-boston-calvin
WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
Calvin College freshman Cassie Vince has been named the Division III Great Lakes Regional Cross Country Athlete of the Year as named by the United States Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association.
A native of Amherst, Ohio, Vince ran away with the individual title at the Great Lakes Regional meet last Saturday, finishing her home 6K course at Calvin more than 14 seconds faster than the nearest runner. Her time of 21:27.82 was well clear of runner-up Emma Lehmann of Oberlin, leading the Knights to the team title. The win was her third of the season, including a title at the MIAA Championships. Vince is the first Calvin women's cross country runner to win a regional title since Jessie Lair in 2003 and she is the sixth individual in Calvin women's cross country history to do so.
Meanwhile Calvin head cross country coach Brian Diemer has been named the Division III Great Lakes Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year by the United States Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association.
Now in his eighth year at the helm of the Calvin women's cross country program, Diemer is receiving the award for the fifth time in the last six years. This past Saturday, Diemer guided his team to a decisive team title at the Great Lakes Regional Championships over Oberlin and Hope, 54-104-105. Freshman Cassie Vince paced the Knights to the title with the individual win, while three others raced to top-15 finishes. Two weeks prior, Diemer's Knights also claimed the MIAA Championships title.
Ranked third nationally, the Calvin women's cross country team will head into the NCAA III Championships final on Saturday at Hanover College in Hanover, Indiana.
Received on Wed Nov 20 22:55:27 2013
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