CKSR (Volleyball and Men's Soccer Capture MIAA Tournament Titles/Swimming and Diving Teams Split Dual Meets at Wheaton/Men's Basketball Drops Exhibition at Ferris State)

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR NOV. 8, 2014

Volleyball and Men's Soccer Teams Capture MIAA Tournament Titles;
Swimming and Diving Teams Split Dual Meets at Wheaton;
Men's Basketball Drops Exhibition at Ferris State

VOLLEYBALL

For the fourth consecutive year, the Calvin women's volleyball team has captured the MIAA Tournament title. The Knights claimed the tournament crown on Saturday with a 25-17, 23-25, 19-25, 25-17, 15-8 victory over Hope in the MIAA Tournament finals at DeVos Fieldhouse.

With the win, top-ranked Calvin (27-3) advances to the NCAA III Tournament for the 11th consecutive year. Calvin will await its NCAA III Tournament placement when the pairings are announced on Monday morning at 11 a.m. (EST).

The MIAA Tournament title is Calvin's 11th overall and the ninth under current head coach Amber Warners. It also marked the third consecutive year Calvin has defeated Hope in a five-set match in the MIAA Tournament final. Calvin is now 6-0 against Hope in five-set matches in the MIAA Tournament final.

Calvin was led in the win by junior Maggie Kamp who tallied 22 kills and 16 digs. Sophomore Laura Danhoff had 14 kills. Seniors Ellie Diepersloot and Emily Crowe had 10 kills apiece. Freshman Emily Blankespoor (Grand Rapids/South Christian HS) had four service aces and 13 digs. Senior Elise Biesboer (Elmhurst, IL/Timothy Christian HS) tallied 12 digs. Freshman Jenna Lodewyk had 47 assists.

(For a full recap of the match written by Gina de Haan - visit the Calvin website at: http://calvinknights.com/sports/wvball/2014-15/releases/201411086iffjr

MEN'S SOCCER

By Mark DeHaan

For the second year in a row, the MIAA Tournament Championship went to a penalty kick shootout. The Calvin men's soccer team, after falling in the conference championship last season, was up to the task on Saturday, defeating Kalamazoo College 8-7 on penalty kicks after the game ended in a 1-1 double-overtime tie.

The Knights came out hungry, threatening the Hornets defense early and often.

In the 6th minute, a free kick from senior Travis Vegter (Hudsonville/Unity Christian HS) deflected off a defender and off the crossbar as the game remained scoreless.

In the 21st minute, sophomore Stephan Hooker (Hudsonville/Unity Christian HS) played a ball across directly to junior Taylor Pruis (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) who had an open look on net, but a sprawling save by Kalamazoo keeper Beau Prey kept the Knights out of the goal.

Sophomore Isky Van Doorne (Calgary, AB/Western Canada HS) then put the Knights ahead in the 34th minute. A through ball from Vegter put Van Doorne in on goal, and after one touch, Van Doorne struck the ball far post to give Calvin a 1-0 advantage.

Minutes later, Kalamazoo tied the ball game as Cal Kirchen found the back of the net off a corner kick in the 37th minute.

The game remained tied 1-1 until halftime. In the first half, Calvin outshot Kalamazoo 12-4. The Knights also held a 4-2 edge in corner kicks over the opening period.

Out of the break, both teams locked down on defense, and it wasn't until the end of regulation that either team saw threatening chances on frame.

In the 89th minute, Pruis had a header toward goal that was just wide.

A minute later, the Hornets saw an opportunity on goal that was turned aside by junior Niko Giantsopoulos (Markham. ON/St. Augustine Catholic HS).

After 90 minutes, the teams found themselves tied at 1-1.

In the first overtime, Calvin had a chance on goal as time was expiring, but another save was made by Prey and the game went to a second overtime.

In the 106th minute, junior Nick Groenewold (Oak Brook, IL/Timothy Christian HS) had a shot on frame saved by Prey, which was the only shot on goal in the second period. With no team finding the back of the net, the game headed to penalty kick shootout.

In the penalty kick shootout, both teams were strong from the spot, each hitting four of the first five kicks. Moving into sudden death penalty kicks, the teams were even after three rounds, but in the fourth, Giantsopoulos made a save then Groenewold found the back of the net as the Knights won 8-7 in the shootout.

Over the 110 minutes of play, Calvin outshot Kalamazoo 18-10. Giantsopoulos made one save in net for the Knights, while his counterpart Prey made five to keep the Hornets in the game.

"(Kalamazoo) frustrated us for 110 minutes - that is a very, very good soccer team," said head coach Ryan Souders. "I thought that from one to 26, our guys played really well and were committed to making sure that our name will show up in the NCAA Tournament. I'm going to sleep a whole lot better tonight and tomorrow night now that our name will be somewhere in the bracket (on Monday). We're excited to be dancing."

With the win, the Knights claim the MIAA's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament. The field for the national tournament will be announced on Monday at 1:30 p.m.

MEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING

WHEATON, IL - The Calvin men's swimming and diving team recorded a 157-105 dual meet victory at Wheaton on Saturday.

Calvin took first place in 10 events to pull away for the win.

Freshman Tanner Vincent (Novi/Novi HS) was a triple-winner individually, claiming first place in the 100 backstroke (54.45), 200 backstroke (1:58.29) and 200 IM (2:01.31).

Sophomore Brett Stoughton (Centerville, IN/Centerville HS) was a double-winner, claiming victories in the 100 butterfly (52.18) and 200 butterfly (1:57.81).

Sophomore Eli Holstege (Keswick, VA/Covenant HS) came up big in the 100 backstroke, winning with a time of 58.93.

Other individual winners included senior Andrew Vanderlei (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) in the 200 breaststroke (2:15.56) and junior Mitch Schroder (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) in the 100 freestyle (47.65).

Calvin also swept both relays.

Calvin's 200 medley relay of Tanner Vincent, Holstege, Stoughton and Schroder won in a time of 1:36.72.

Its 400 freestyle relay team of Schroder, junior Brandon Muma (Grand Rapids/Forest Hills Eastern HS), freshman Skyler Fish (Carson City/Ionia HS) and senior Alex Baumann (Holland/Holland Christian HS) also won in a time of 3:13.63.

The Knights return to action next Friday, competing in a dual meet at Wayne State.

WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING

WHEATON, IL - The Calvin women's swimming and diving team dropped a 189-111 dual meet at Wheaton Saturday afternoon.

A highlight of the meet for Calvin came in the women's one-meter diving competition which was held under an 11-dive format. Competing in her hometown, Calvin freshman Sarah Bradley (Wheaton, IL/Wheaton North HS) took second with an NCAA III cut score of 420.30, finishing just 1.4 points out of first place.

Freshman Abby Van Harn (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) also continued her stellar start to the season, winning the 100 freestyle (53.50) and 200 freestyle (1:57.99).

Junior Megan Schroder (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) also won the 200 backstroke in a time of 2:16.06.

The Knights return to action next Friday, competing in a dual meet at Wayne State.

MEN'S BASKETBALL

BIG RAPIDS - The Calvin men's basketball team dropped a 92-58 exhibition game at Ferris State University Saturday afternoon.

Calvin trailed 56-19 at halftime before outscoring the Bulldogs 39-36 in the second half.

Freshman Connor VanderBrug (Elmhurst, IL/Timothy Christian HS) led Calvin in defeat with 15 points off the bench. Junior guard Austin Parks (Niles/Niles HS) also had 11 points.

Calvin committed 23 turnovers against the Bulldogs. James Chappell had 18 points to lead Ferris State.

Calvin will now prepare for its season opener next Saturday when it hosts Anderson University at 3 p.m.
Received on Sat Nov 8 22:58:30 2014