CKSR (Swimming and Diving Teams Capture Dual Meets Against Kalamazoo on Senior Day/Basketball Teams Claim Conference Wins at Kalamazoo)

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR JAN. 18, 2014

Swimming and Diving Teams Capture Dual Meets Against Kalamazoo;
Basketball Teams Claim Conference Wins at Kalamazoo

MEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING

Competing on Senior Day, the Calvin men's swimming and diving team upped its season dual meet record to 5-3 with an impressive 175-122 victory over visiting Kalamazoo Saturday afternoon inside the Venema Aquatic Center. The victory was Calvin's second-ever over Kalamazoo in dual meet competition and its first since 2006.

Ranked 13th in the most recent Collegeswimming.com Top 25 poll, Calvin took first place in 10 events while providing quality depth consistently throughout the meet.

Sophomores Aaron Venema (Grand Haven/Grand Haven HS) and Johnson Cochran (Mount Vernon, OH/Mount Vernon HS) along with freshman Brett Stoughton (Centerville, IN/Centerville HS) were all double-winners.

Venema took first place in the 200 freestyle (1:44.98) and 500 freestyle (4:46.10) while Cochran won the 100 breaststroke (57.91) and 200 breaststroke (2:08.31). Stoughton claimed wins in the 200 butterfly (1:57.55) and 200 IM (1:58.81).

Other individual winners for Calvin included sophomore Caleb Meindertsma (Annandale, VA/Trinity Christian HS) in the 1,000 freestyle (10:06.35) and senior Andrew Mitchell (Iron Mountain/Kingsford HS) in the 100 freestyle (48.13).

In the diving competition, freshman Dirk Tanis (Holland/Holland Christian HS) had a pair of second place performances, taking second on the one-meter board (246.85) and second on the three-meter board (214.55).

Calvin's 200 medley relay team of Stoughton, Cochran, Johnson and Mitchell took first place in a time of 1:34.87. It's 400 freestyle relay team of sophomore Mitch Schroder (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS), Venema, junior Alex Baumann (Holland/Holland Christian HS) and Mitchell took first place in a time of 3:11.84.

"I was very happy with our performance today," said Calvin head swim coach Dan Gelderloos. "It was a total team effort."

For more from Gelderloos, listen to his online audio interview at: http://www.calvin.edu/sports/audio/2014/swim14/DanGelderloos011814.mp3

Calvin returns to action next Saturday when it closes out its MIAA dual meet campaign with a dual meet at Hope at 1 p.m.

WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING

Competing on Senior Day, the Calvin women's swimming and diving recorded a dominating 202-96 dual meet victory over visiting Kalamazoo inside the Venema Aquatic Center. Ranked 15th by Collegeswimming.com, Calvin is now 6-3 in dual meet competition heading into a dual meet at rival Hope next Saturday in Holland.

Ranked 15th in the most recent Collegeswimming.com Top 25 poll, Calvin was led by junior Kathryn Wrobel (Arden Hills, MN/Moundsview HS) as she claimed victories in the 1,000 freestyle (10:37.68), 500 freestyle (5:12.70) and 200 freestyle (1:58.28).

In the diving competition, junior Rebecca Mumby (Spring Lake/Spring Lake HS) had a huge afternoon, winning the one-meter (244.50) and three-meter (246.25) boards.

Two additional double-winners included senior Kristy Kinzer (Fort Wayne, IN/Homestead HS) and junior Lexi Scott (Richmond, IN/Richmond HS) as Kinzer won the 100 backstroke (1:00.95) and 100 butterfly (1:00.93) while Scott won the 100 breaststroke (1:10.21) and 200 breaststroke (2:33.06).

Sophomore Michaela Rookus (Hudsonville/Hudsonville HS) was also a double-winner, claiming the 100 freestyle (53.97) and 200 IM (2:13.19).

In the 200 backstroke, junior Erika Waugh (Berne, IN/South Adams HS) took first place in a time of 2:12.95.

Calvin's 200 medley relay team of Kinzer, Scott, Rookus and freshman Adrienne Wesselius (Sioux Center, IA/Unity Christian HS) also claimed a win.

"I don't want to miss anyone but I thought Kathryn Wrobel in particular had a really great day," said Calvin head swim coach Dan Gelderloos. "To win three events and do them the way she did was pretty was impressive. We really had a great team performance though. This was a fun day."

For more from Gelderloos, listen to his online audio interview at: http://www.calvin.edu/sports/audio/2014/swim14/DanGelderloos011814.mp3

MEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 90, Kalamazoo 72
By Mark DeHaan

The Knights traveled to Kalamazoo and the Anderson Athletic Center to face the Hornets of Kalamazoo College in a Saturday afternoon conference contest and came away with a 90-72 win.

Calvin entered the game 10-4 overall, 2-1 in conference and in a four-way tie atop the MIAA. The Hornets, at 6-8 and 1-2 in the league, had the highest scoring offense in the conference at 80.3 points-per-game coming into Saturday.

Holding the Hornets top scorer in check while shooting 62.5% from the field, the Knights earned a hard-fought victory on the road.

With the win, Calvin remains in a four-way tie for first place in the league standings with Albion, Hope and Trine at 3-1 in league play.

Calvin took an early 7-2 lead, with junior Jordan Brink (Dyer, IN/Illiana Christian HS) scoring five quick points. Kalamazoo closed the gap to one at 9-8, but an 8-2 run, led by six points from senior Tyler Kruis (Grand Rapids/Calvin Christian HS), put the Knights up 17-10.

With 11:33 remaining in the first half, Calvin took a double-digit lead at 23-13. An 8-2 run for the Hornets put the Knights lead at 25-21, but a three-pointer from sophomore Austin Parks (Niles/Niles HS) ended Kalamazoo's momentum and gave Calvin a 28-21 advantage.

After the Knights took another double-digit lead at 37-25, a 10-2 run for the Hornets forced Calvin head coach Kevin Vande Streek into a timeout with 3:43 remaining.

For the remainder of the half, the Knights defense buckled down and held Kalamazoo scoreless while the offense scored seven and Calvin took a 46-35 lead into halftime.

Brink led the Knights with 12 points at the break while Kruis, junior Tyler Dykstra (Holland/Holland Christian HS), and sophomore Jordan Daley (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) each scored eight. Adam Dykema led Kalamazoo with 10 points at the break, while MIAA leading scorer Mark Ghafari had just five.

Out of the break, Calvin increased its lead to 57-40 with 16:42 remaining in the game.

The Hornets responded by cutting the Knights lead to 67-59 with 8:45 left.

Over the next six minutes and change, Calvin began to slowly and methodically expand its lead, taking a 98-65 advantage with 1:58 left in the game.

The Knights then closed out the contest 90-72, claiming an impressive away game victory.
Calvin shot 62.5% in the win, hitting 7-of-14 from behind the arc and going 13-of-15 from the free throw line. The Knights outrebounded Kalamazoo 38-19.

Kruis led Calvin on offense with 27 points, two shy of his career high, on 12-of-15 shooting from the field. Brink added 22, Daley had 14 and five assists, and Dykstra finished with 12 points, nine rebounds, and six assists.

Dykema scored 18 to lead the Hornets. Adam Peters scored 16 while Josh Whitney added 10. Mark Ghafari, who came in averaging 26.8 points-per-game, was held to just eight.

"Kalamazoo works harder on offense than anybody that we play. There's all kinds of action and movement, and defensively, you have to be in the right spot all the time, or they take advantage. I have to give Jordan Daley some major props. I though he did a really good job, positioning-wise and challenging-wise. He certainly was a defensive stopper today. " said Vande Streek. "Overall I'm really pleased, and it's great to get out of here with a win."

With the win, Calvin improves to 11-4 and 3-1 in conference play, while Kalamazoo falls to 6-9 and 1-3 in the MIAA.

The Knights now look forward to Wednesday when they will host the Thunder of Trine at 7:30 p.m. at Van Noord Arena in a matchup of first place MIAA teams.

MIAA MEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 1-18-14 GAMES

Albion 3-1
Calvin 3-1
Hope 3-1
Trine 3-1
Alma 1-2
Olivet 1-2
Kalamazoo 1-3
Adrian 0-4

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 75, Kalamazoo 58
By Gina de Haan

Saturday afternoon at Van Noord Arena the Calvin women's basketball team won its third consecutive league game with a 75-58 victory over the Kalamazoo College Hornets. The Knights are getting hot at the right time as they near the heart of their season and conference play.
Previously tied at third place in the MIAA with Calvin, this contest moved the Hornets into the fourth place slot, which they will share with Adrian. The Knights maintain their third place conference standing and move to 5-2 in league play; the win boosts Calvin's overall record to 10-5.
Calvin trailed the visitors early on in the game, but battled back and stayed ahead for the remainder of the conference matchup. Breanna Verkaik (Holland/Holland Christian HS) had the go-ahead bucket and the Knights went on a 28-20 run, giving them a 37-29 lead going into the halftime break.
To start the second half, Kalamazoo cut that lead to four, but Calvin quickly answered. Junior Abby VanderWoude (Hudsonville, MI/Unity Christian HS) hit a jumper, followed by a three-point bucket by Breanna Verkaik. After six minutes had expired in the 2nd half, Calvin possessed a 10 point lead that never dropped below double digits for the rest of the contest. The team effort that the Knights displayed sustained their triumph; as a whole, Calvin recorded 20 assists while Kalamazoo had eight.
Verkaik led her team to the victory with a solid all-around game; the junior finished with 20 points, 9 rebounds, 4 steals, and 2 blocks. Hannah Acre (DeWitt, MI/DeWitt HS) had a strong offensive game, putting up 17 points for the Knights. Coming off of a season-best game against Saint Mary's, Kayla Engelhard (Unionville, MI/Saginaw Valley Lutheran) once again contributed, chipping in with 13 points, 3 assists and 2 steals.
Calvin forced 22 turnovers thanks to their early full-court pressure, and only had 14 themselves.
The visiting Hornets were led by Emily Lindsay and Nicole Antoine who each had 12 points. Querubin Dubois had 10.
"Kalamazoo is a much-improved team and we knew they would come in and give us a fight and they did," said Calvin women's basketball coach John Ross. "I think the key is that we kept playing hard for 40 minutes and our pressure starting paying off as the game went along. We can't relax against anyone in our league right now."
The Knights will travel to Adrian next week Wednesday, January 22nd, with intentions to extend their winning streak.

MIAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 1-18-14 GAMES

Hope 7-0
Olivet 6-1
Calvin 5-2
Kalamazoo 4-3
Adrian 4-3
Saint Mary's 3-4
Albion 2-5
Trine 1-6
Alma 0-8
Received on Sat Jan 18 22:38:59 2014