CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR NOV. 4, 2014
Women's Basketball Picked To Finish Second in MIAA Preseason Coaches' Poll;
Calvin Cross Country Runners Receives MIAA MVP / All-MIAA Accolades;
Volleyball Retains Top Spot in AVCA Division III Top 25 Poll;
Men's Soccer Moves Up In National Rankings - to Host Alma Wednesday in MIAA Tourney
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
The Calvin women's basketball team has been picked to finish second in the MIAA preseason coaches' poll released earlier today. The Knights received one first place vote in the poll. Defending MIAA champion Hope received the remaining eight first place votes and was pegged to repeat as league champion.
Calvin returns 11 letterwinners from a 19-8 team that reached the MIAA tournament championship game. Coach John Ross returns first-team All-MIAA forward Breanna Verkaik (Holland/Holland Christian HS), who led the conference in field goal shooting at nearly 55 percent while averaging 16.3 points per game against league foes.
Also back for the Knights is second-team All-MIAA guard Kayla Engelhard (Unionville/Saginaw Valley Lutheran HS) who averaged 12.2 ppg last season. Senior forward Hannah Acre (DeWitt/DeWitt HS) and sophomore guard Anna Timmer (Caledonia/South Christian HS) are also expected to play key roles for Calvin. Acre averaged 9.0 points and 4.4 rebounds a game last year while Timmer averaged 7.5 points and 4.1 rebounds per contest.
Calvin is scheduled to officially open its season on November 15 when it hosts Anderson University at 1 p.m. The Knights will also host Saginaw Valley State in an exhibition game this Saturday at Van Noord Arena with opening tip set for noon.
Preseason Poll Results (First-place votes in parenthesis): 1. Hope (8) 8 pts. 2. Calvin (1) 15. 3. Olivet 22. 4. Kalamazoo. 36. 5. Adrian 38. 6. Albion 40. 7. Saint Mary's 46. 8. Trine 55. 9. Alma 62.
MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
The All-MIAA men's cross country teams were announced this past weekend and several members of the Calvin men's cross country team were so honored.
Leading the list is sophomore Zac Nowicki (Comstock Park/Calvin Christian HS) who was named the MIAA's Most Valuable Runner after taking first place at both the MIAA Jamboree in September and the MIAA Championships on November 1.
Nowicki is the 22nd individual in Calvin men's cross country to be named the MIAA's Most Valuable Runner.
Nowicki was also named to the All-MIAA first team for the second straight year. Calvin freshman Andrew Rylaarsdam (Grandville/Calvin Christian HS) - also a former teammate of Nowicki in high school - was also named to the All-MIAA first team.
Named to the All-MIAA second team from Calvin were senior Josh Ferguson (Naperville, IL/Nequa Valley HS), junior Jonathon Gingrich (Powell, OH/Olentangy Liberty HS), senior Steven Haagsma (Grandville/Calvin Christian HS) and freshman Andrew Philipose (Mount Prospect, IL/John Hersey HS).
This past Saturday, the Calvin men's cross country team captured its 28th consecutive MIAA title, taking first place at the MIAA Championships with a team score of 42 points.
WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
The All-MIAA women's cross country teams were announced this past weekend and several members of the Calvin women's cross country team were so honored.
Leading the list is sophomore Cassie Vince (Amherst, OH/Amherst HS) who was named the MIAA's Most Valuable Runner after taking first place at both the MIAA Jamboree in September and the MIAA Championships on November 1. Vince won Saturday's 6K race at the Gainey Athletic Complex with a course-record time of 21:10.
Vince finished 37 seconds ahead of her nearest competitor in the race.
Vince is the 17th individual in Calvin women's cross country history to be named the MIAA's Most Valuable Runner.
In addition, Vince was named to the All-MIAA first team for the second straight year. Vince was one of four Calvin runners named to the All-MIAA first team. Senior Kimby Penning (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) was named to the All-MIAA first team for the third time while sophomore Lauren Strohbehn (Stillwater, MN/St. Croix Preparatory HS) and senior Sarah Danner (Watkins Glen, NY/Charles Dickerson HS) were named to the All-MIAA first team for the first time.
Named to the All-MIAA second team from Calvin were senior Kate Ardinger (Elmhurst, IL/Timothy Christian HS), sophomore Hope Gaffner (Hudsonville/Unity Christian HS) and senior Paige McGahan (Brighton/Brighton HS).
This past Saturday, the Calvin women's cross country team captured its third consecutive MIAA title including its ninth in the last 10 years, taking first place at the MIAA Championships with a team score of 27 points.
MORE CROSS COUNTRY
On Saturday, Calvin head cross country coach Brian Diemer became the all-time winningest coach in MIAA athletics history as he led the Calvin men's team to its 28th league title under his direction and the Calvin women's team to its eighth league crown under his directions.
With 36 MIAA titles to his credit, Diemer surpasses former Kalamazoo men's tennis coach George Acker who led the Hornets to 35 MIAA titles during his tenure as coach.
Mlive.com caught up with Diemer this week to reflect on his accomplishment and filed the following story on his career at: http://www.mlive.com/smallcolleges/grandrapids/index.ssf/2014/11/brian_diemers_amazing_cross_co.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
VOLLEYBALL
The Calvin women's volleyball team will head into MIAA Tournament play this weekend as the top-ranked team in Division III. For the second consecutive week, the Knights are ranked number-one in the AVCA Division III Top 25 poll.
The Knights (25-3) received 44 first place votes in this week's poll to retain the top spot for the second straight week. Hope (27-1) received 18 first place votes and is ranked second.
Calvin will face Trine University (24-5) in an MIAA Tournament semifinal contest Friday at Hope's DeVos Fieldhouse at 5:30 p.m.
Hope will face Alma (15-17) in the second semifinal on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Friday's winners will play in the MIAA Tournament finals at Hope on Saturday at 4 p.m.
The latest AVCA Division III Top 25 poll can be found online at: http://www.avca.org/divisions/division-three-women/poll-11-4-14/
MEN'S SOCCER
The Calvin men's soccer team has moved up one spot in a pair of national polls. The Knights are ranked sixth in the latest NSCAA Division III Top 25 poll and fifth in the most recent D3soccer.com Top 25 poll. The Knights were ranked seventh in the NSCAA poll last week and sixth in the D3soccer.com Top 25 poll.
The NSCAA Division III Top 25 poll can be found online at: http://www.nscaatv.com/rankings/3874/NCAADivisionIII/men/Poll10
The D3soccer.com Top 25 poll can be found online at: http://d3soccer.com/top25/men/2014/week10
Calvin will host Alma in an MIAA Tournament semifinal game on Wednesday at 3 p.m. at Calvin's Zuidema Field. The game will feature a live video stream as well as audio broadcast and live stats links.
Calvin-Alma Men's Soccer Links
Live Stats: http://www.calvin.edu/scoreboard
Live Audio: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/calvin/
Live Video: http://new.livestream.com/calvin-college
Received on Tue Nov 4 22:53:37 2014
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.8 : Tue Nov 04 2014 - 22:53:37 EST