CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR NOVEMBER 22, 2014
Volleyball Falls to Hope in National Semifinals;
Women's Cross Country Takes Ninth at National Meet - Vince Places 3rd;
Men's Cross Country Takes 21st at National Meet;
Men's Basketball Falls to Ohio Wesleyan - Women's Basketball Tops Hiram
VOLLEYBALL
NEWPORT NEWS, VA - Calvin's bid for a repeat national championship came to an end Saturday evening as the Knights were defeated by rival Hope 28-26, 25-18, 25-14 in the national semifinals on the campus of Christopher Newport University.
Hope (33-2) advances to the national final on Monday to take on Emory University while Calvin ends its season with a final record of 31-4.
Calvin entered Saturday's match as the nation's leader in hitting percentage at a .299 clip. Behind a strong service game and a powerful block at the net, Hope put the clamps on the Calvin offensive attack as the Knights hit a season-low .113 Saturday night.
The two rivals slugged it out in set one. As it did in all three sets, Hope roared out to a quick lead but Calvin regrouped and took a 24-23 lead with a chance to win the set and steal the early momentum. A Calvin attack error and a subsequent Hope kill gave the Flying Dutch a 25-24 lead. Calvin came back to tie the set at 25 and also at 26 but could not hold off Hope as the Flying Dutch used a block and and a Calvin hitting error to close out the set.
With momentum on its side, Hope never let up from that point on, jumping out to a 14-7 lead in set two and an 11-6 lead in set three, forcing the Knights to play from behind.
Hope finished the match with seven service aces and just two service errors while Calvin had two aces and eight service errors.
Hope's service kept the Knights out of system and helped the Flying Dutch rack up 12 total team blocks including nine block assists from middle-hitter Jillian Sommerville.
"It was once again what I say every time we play Hope," said Calvin head volleyball coach Amber Warners. "It's a serving and a serve-receive game. I think for two matches this year we won that battle and for two matches they won that battle. They were the better team tonight and I congratulate them on the victory. We didn't serve as aggressively and they passed very well and as a result we didn't stay in system as much as we wanted to."
Calvin was led in defeat by junior Maggie Kamp (Orland Park, IL/Chicago Christian HS) and sophomore Laura Danhoff (Willard, OH/Willard HS) who had 11 kills apiece with Kamp also racking up 11 digs. Freshman setter Jenna Lodewyk (Villa Park, IL/Timothy Christian HS) had 21 assists while freshman Emily Blankespoor (Grand Rapids/South Christian HS) also had 11 digs.
Hope was led by Anna Lynch with 15 kills while Jenna Grasmeyer had 14.
The loss concludes the careers of Calvin seniors Emily Crowe (Granger, IN/Mishawaka Penn HS), Stacey Kamp (Orland Park, IL/Chicago Christian HS), Elise Biesboer (Elmhurst, IL/Timothy Christian HS) and Ellie Diepersloot (Madera, CA/Chowchilla HS).
"This year was a new year and our goal was to be in the hunt to get another one (national championship)," said Warners. "We got pretty close and I feel extremely grateful to be in the position that we were in but you can't win it every year. I'm very grateful for the season that we have had and one loss will not define our season."
WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
KINGS ISLAND, OH - The Calvin women's cross country team posted its second consecutive top-10 national finish, placing ninth at the NCAA III Cross Country Championships with a team score of 280 points.
Sophomore Cassie Vince (Amherst, OH/Amherst HS) led the charge by finishing third individually with a time of 21:30. The finish by Vince is the second-best in MIAA women's cross country history at the national finals, surpassed only by Calvin's Renea Bluekamp who won the 1993 individual national title in Grinnell, Iowa.
With the third place finish, Vince claims NCAA III All-America honors for the second straight year. She finished 23rd at the 2013 NCAA III Championships.
Vince ran with a small pack of runners through the first half of the race and then moved into third place over the final mile-and-a-half. She finished seven seconds ahead of Carleton's Ruth Steinke and 32 seconds behind Lucy Cheadle of Washington University. Amy Regan of Stevens Institute won the individual national title in a time of 20:51.
Sophomore Lauren Strohbehn (Stillwater, MN/St. Croix Prepatory HS) was the second finisher for Calvin, placing 51st in a time of 22:45. Strohbehn made a bid for an All-America (Top 35) finish as she was 24th with a mile to go but fell just off the pace over the final stretch.
Senior Kimby Penning (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) also finished in the top 100, placing 99th in a time of 23:13 while senior Sarah Danner (Watkins Glen, NY/Charles Dickerson HS) was 101st in 23:14.
Rounding out Calvin's finishers were senior Kate Ardinger (Elmhurst, IL/Timothy Christian HS) in 119th (23:23), senior Paige McGahan 123rd (23:26) and junior McKenzie Diemer (Caledonia/South Christian HS) in 216th (24:10).
"We got off to a tough start," said Calvin head cross country coach Brian Diemer. "There was a real bottleneck about 400 meters into the race and we got out too slow. Once we were pushed to the back, we had to fight too hard to make up the difference because of how narrow the course was in the first mile. Cassie Vince ran a great race. She was patient and made her move at the right moment. Lauren Strohbehn also made a push for an All-America spot. She just couldn't sustain it over the final thousand meters or so. We had a real good year as a team. We just wish we could have done a few things differently at the start of this race."
Johns Hopkins defended its national title, winning with a score of 87 points with MIT second with 112 points.
Calvin has now posted 18 top-10 national team finishes in women's cross country.
MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
KINGS ISLAND, OH - After a disappointing performance at the Great Lakes Regional meet last week, the Calvin men's cross country team regrouped to finish 21st at the NCAA III Cross Country Championships Saturday morning with a team score of 522 points.
At the Great Lakes Regional meet, Calvin placed fourth but on Saturday, the Knights were second-highest finishing team from the region, trailing only Wabash which placed 16th.
Sophomore Zac Nowicki (Comstock Park/Calvin Christian HS) was Calvin's top individual, placing 90th with a time of 25:16. Sophomore Nathan VanHaitsma (Olympia, WA/Olympia HS) was 138th (25:34) and senior Josh Ferguson (Naperville, IL/Neuqua Valley HS) 141st (25:35).
Senior Steven Haagsma (Grandville/Calvin Christian HS) was right behind in 144th (25:35).
Rounding out Calvin's finishers were freshman Andrew Philipose (Mount Prospect, IL/John Hersey HS) in 188th (25:49), junior Jonathan Gingrich (Powell, OH/Olentangy Liberty HS) in 206th (25:59) and freshman Andrew Rylaarsdam (Grandville/Calvin Christian HS) in 221st (26:05).
Nowicki survived a fall on one of the opening turns of the race as he slipped and fell with a group of runners fighting for position. Nowicki was quick on his feet to recover but the slip cost him a few spots according to head coach Brian Diemer.
"Zac lost a couple of spots because of that fall but it could have been worse," said Diemer. "I give him credit for hanging tough. Overall this team really turned the ship around today. We went with three new runners in our lineup and we had a solid performance. Our goal for next year is to get back into the top 10 but in order to do that, we had to take a positive step forward today and we accomplished that goal."
North Central won the team title, edging St. Olaf for first place with a team score of 130 points with St. Olaf second with 143 points. Grant Wintheiser of St. Olaf was the individual winner in a time of 23:44.
By Mark DeHaan
The Knights suffered their first defeat of the young season on Saturday afternoon, hosting Ohio Wesleyan University in the final contest of the Great Lakes Challenge.
The Battling Bishops downed the Knights using strong three-point shooting, hitting 17-of-36 shots from beyond the arc en route to a 83-71 win over Calvin.
Despite the final margin, five minutes into the contest, the teams were deadlocked at 12-12.
Ohio Wesleyan then began to pull away. Three straight triples from the Battling Bishops put Calvin into a 24-15 hole.
A three-pointer from senior Jordan Brink cut OWU's advantage to 26-23, but a 15-2 run from the Battling Bishops brought their lead to double-digits at 41-25.
Ohio Wesleyan then closed out the half at 51-33. The Battling Bishops were 18-of-36 in the first half, including 10-of-23 from beyond the three-point arc. The Knights had 10 turnovers in the opening half compared to just three for Ohio Wesleyan.
In the second half, the Battling Bishops took a 62-40 lead with 13:42 to go for the largest margin of the game.
Junior Austin Parks began to pull the Knights back. As part of a 22-9 run, Parks hit three triples and freshman Connor VanderBrug added five points as Calvin drew to within single-digits at 71-62.
With 5:24 remaining, sophomore Michael Welch hit a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to 76-68, but the Knights could draw no closer as Ohio Wesleyan held Calvin off to claim an 83-71 victory.
The Battling Bishops shot 50% for the game, hitting 31-of-62 attempts from the field, also making 17-of-36 from three-point range. Calvin, meanwhile, shot 44.1% on 26-of-59 shooting, including just 8-of-24 from beyond the arc for 33.3%.
For the Knights, Brink was the only player in double figures with 22 points, adding 11 rebounds. Parks and VanderBrug each contributed nine points.
For Ohio Wesleyan, Nick Felhaber scored 29 points while Claude Gray added 20. Nate Axelrod had 12 points and 11 assists.
"I hoped we learned some things this weekend. We've been talking about the turnover issue, which is just one of them," said head coach Kevin Vande Streek. "Losing the game isn't the be-all, end-all, but if we don't learn something from it, that's the problem. We have some work to do, no doubt about it."
Calvin drops to 2-1 overall while Ohio Wesleyan improves to 3-0.
The Knights now look forward to Tuesday when they played the Spartans of Manchester University as part of a women's basketball-men's basketball doubleheader. The women tip-off at 6 p.m., also against Manchester, with the men following at 8 p.m.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 81, Hiram 58
By Gina de Haan
HIRAM, OH - Saturday afternoon in its second game of the Terrier Tip-Off Classic, the Calvin women's basketball team took on the tournament host, Hiram College. The Knights displayed a solid team effort, defeating the Terriers 81-58.
The Knights were coming off a 90-50 victory over Allegheny College while the Terriers had previously been defeated 74-60 by Albion College. Both teams played Friday night in the first games of the four-team tournament.
In the beginning of the first half, the two teams took turns holding the lead. But with just over nine minutes remaining before halftime, the Knights took charge. Junior guard Kally Verkaik (Holland, MI/Holland Christian HS) hit a jumper in the paint to put her team up 26-24, a lead that Calvin wouldn't give up for the remainder of the half. After Verkaik's made basket, the Knights scored the next seven points - Hannah Acre (DeWitt, MI/DeWitt HS), Tiffany Karger (Cedar Springs, MI/Cedar Springs), and Anna Timmer (Caledonia, MI/South Christian HS) contributed to Calvin's nine-point run. The visiting Knights kept rolling and headed into the break with a thirteen-point lead, up 44-31 on the Terriers.
The Knights put forth a well-balanced scoring effort in the first half with five players contributing significant points. Timmer and Breanna Verkaik (Holland, MI/Holland Christian HS) each scored 8, Kally Verkaik had 7, and Karger and Kayla Engelhard (Unionville, MI/Saginaw Valley Lutheran HS) added 6 points apiece.
Calvin carried their momentum into the next half of the game. Eight seconds in, Engelhard stole the ball, scored on a fastbreak layup, and was fouled; she knocked down her free throw to complete the three-point play. Minutes later, Hannah Acre and Anna Timmer also capitalized on and-1 buckets, adding another six points to put the Knights up 53-35.
With seven minutes remaining, senior guard Kelsey Pollock hit a three to give the Knights a 73-43 lead, their largest of the night. The Knights settled in and put forth a solid team effort, finishing the contest 23 points ahead of the Terriers.
Sophomore guard Anna Timmer led the Knights in scoring 11 points, shooting 4-7 from the floor and 3-3 from the free throw line. Seniors Breanna Verkaik and Hannah Acre added 10 points apiece. Verkaik also led the team with six rebounds while Acre recorded the most steals (3).
Calvin head coach John Ross gave all 15 Knights playing time; his bench contributed 36 points to the victory.
Kayla Engelhard was named Calvin team MVP. She finished with nine points, three boards two steals, and two assists.
Junior guard Kelsey Koskinen was the MVP for Hiram. Koskinen was the high-scorer for the game and was responsible for 20 of her team's 58 points.
In their next game, the Knights will host the Manchester University Spartans on Tuesday, November 25. Tip-off will be at 6:00 p.m. inside Van Noord Arena.
Received on Sat Nov 22 23:24:43 2014
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