CKSR (Calvin Knight Sports Report for February 11, 2015)

From: Jeffrey Febus <jfebus@calvin.edu>
Date: Thu Feb 12 2015 - 00:13:04 EST

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR FEBRUARY 11, 2015

Women's Basketball Matches School-Record Win Streak With Win Over Alma;
Men's Basketball Moves Into Sole Possession of First Place in MIAA Standings With Win at Kalamazoo;
Swimming and Diving Teams Open Competition at MIAA Championships;
Women's Lacrosse Picked to Finish Fourth in MIAA Coaches' Poll

WOMEN' S BASKETBALL
Calvin 76, Alma 38
By Gina de Haan

On Wednesday evening the Calvin women's basketball team hosted conference opponent Alma College. This was the second meeting between the two MIAA teams this season. In the first matchup of the year, the Knights defeated the Scots 76-53.

The undefeated Calvin women's basketball team, ranked sixth in the nation by D3hoops.com, defeated the Scots 76-38. The Knights have now won 22 consecutive games, matching the longest win streak in school history originally established by its 1995-96 team.

In Wednesday's victory over Alma, senior Hannah Acre scored the first points of the contest, sinking a three to give the Knights an early lead that they would maintain for the remainder of the game. Kayla Engelhard followed with a three-pointer of her own. A jumper by Acre, a pair of free throws by Kally Verkaik, and a field goal by Anna Timmer gave Calvin a ten-point lead (12-2) just under six minutes into the game.

At halftime the Knights held a 35-17 lead. In the first half, Anna Timmer shot an impressive 6-6 from the floor and 3-3 from the free throw line, leading the Knights with fifteen points.

Calvin scored eighteen of its first half points in the paint.

In the second half the Knights used defensive pressure to frustrate the Scots. Calvin's defensive energy sparked their offensive play.

With 13:30 left to play, Tiffany Karger sunk a three-point bucket that kicked off a twelve-point run for her team. Engelhard and Kally Verkaik contributed a jumper and a free throw plus a pair of threes, respectively. The scoring streak gave the Knights a thirty-three-point lead (59-26) over the Scots with just over ten minutes remaining in the game.

Anna Timmer was the high scorer of the game, finishing with seventeen points, and also snagged five rebounds. Kayla Engelhard and Kally Verkaik followed with twelve apiece; Engelhard led the Knights with seven boards. Hannah Acre chipped in nine points. Breanna Verkaik also added four points, dished out eight assists, and grabbed five rebounds. Calvin's bench contributed thirty-seven points.

"I'm really happy to get a win against Alma," said Calvin women's basketball coach John Ross. "Alma has players that love the game of basketball and they're always going to give you a battle. I was happy to pull out the win."

The Knights are proud of their record-tying accomplishment, but are staying focused on playing well as a team every game. "We're just worried about one game at a time and we have to get ready for Saint Mary's now," says Ross. "It's great that we've accomplished this goal, but we also have a lot more goals that we want to accomplish and don't want to just focus on just this success."

On Saturday the Knights will travel to Notre, Dame Indiana to take on the Belles of Saint Mary's (3-19 overall, 1-12 MIAA) in another MIAA matchup. Tip-off is set for 3:00 p.m.

Calvin also received word that is ranked second in the first set of NCAA III Great Lakes Regional Rankings behind top-ranked Thomas More (KY). The rankings can be found online at: http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/basketball-women/d3

MIAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 2-11-15 GAMES

Calvin 13-0
Hope 12-1
Kalamazoo 9-5
Trine 7-6
Olivet 7-6
Albion 6-8
Adrian 3-10
Alma 2-12
Saint Mary's 1-12

MEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 92, Kalamazoo 63
By Mark DeHaan

KALAMAZOO - The Knights and Hornets faced off in a match-up of teams at opposite ends of the league standings on Wednesday evening. Calvin entered at 8-2 and tied for first overall while Kalamazoo was 2-8 and tied for last in the league.

Calvin came out on top Wednesday night 92-63 and with the win, snared sole possession of first place in the MIAA standings, moving a game ahead of Trine which fell at Alma 58-53 Wednesday evening.

Behind a fast first half from junior Jordan Daley and a strong team defensive effort, Calvin went up by double-digits early and did not look back, earning a 92-63 victory on the road.

For the opening minutes, Kalamazoo stuck with the Knights, tying the game at 15-15 with 12:08 to go in the first.

Over the next five minutes, Calvin pulled away with a 19-8 run, led by 14 points from Daley, including a pair of three-pointers. The run gave the Knights a double-digit lead at 34-23.

Over the final 7:24, the Knights held the Hornets to just three field goals as Calvin took a 49-32 lead into the break.

On the final play of the first half, Daley sent the team into halftime on an exclamation point as he stole an inbounds pass and went coast-to-coast for a buzzer-beating layup.

Daley had 20 points at the break on 8-of-8 shooting, 2-of-2 from three point range. As a team, the Knights shot 56.3% in the first half.

Out of the break, Calvin continued to play the strong defense with which it had ended the first half. The Knights held the Hornets to 29.4% shooting from the field in the second half, including 2-of-10 from behind the three-point line.

Calvin saw its largest lead of the ball game with 1:44 remaining in the game at 92-61.

The final score then settled at 92-63, the Knights largest margin of victory this season.

Calvin shot 49.2% for the ball game, holding the Hornets to 37.1% shooting overall and just 4-of-17 for 23.5% from three-point range. The Knights out-rebounded Kalamazoo 44-30, with 15 of Calvin's boards coming on the offensive glass.

Individually, Daley scored a career-high 25 to lead the Knights. Senior Jordan Brink added 16 points while sophomore Cameron Denney had 14 points and five rebounds. Freshman Connor VanderBrug also finished in double-digits with 12 points.

For Kalamazoo, Jason Hugan had 16 points and eight rebounds. Adam Dykema scored 12, Mike Oravetz added 11, and Keith Garber contributed 10.

"Jordan (Daley) had a good game last time against Kalamazoo, but he was 3-for-13 from the free throw line, so I think he wanted to come out ready tonight," said head coach Kevin Vande Streek. "Overall I thought we played well but we still have room for improvement."

Saturday's matchup against Trine will have huge implications with first place on the line. In the first meeting of the year between the two teams, Trine handed Calvin a 62-47 defeat.

"Trine sure stuck it to us down there at their place and they have an excellent team," said Vande Streek. "I think, obviously, you'd love to go down the stretch with a four game lead, but that's not very realistic. By saying you control your own destiny, and with the game at home, we're set up for where we want to be."

The Knights improve to 16-6 overall and 9-2 in the MIAA with the win over the Hornets, while Kalamazoo falls to 7-15 and 2-9 in league play.

Prior to Saturday's game against Trine, Calvin will honor its four seniors. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.

MIAA MEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 2-11-15 GAMES

Calvin 9-2
Hope 8-3
Trine 8-3
Alma 6-5
Adrian 5-6
Albion 4-7
Kalamazoo 2-9
Olivet 2-9

WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING

HOLLAND - The Calvin women's swimming team opened the MIAA Championships with an exclamation point as the Knights took first place in the 800 freestyle relay with a season-best and NCAA III B' cut qualifying time of 7:40.06. The time was a season-best by nearly 16 seconds. It also currently places Calvin in the top 10 on the national list in the event.

The Calvin relay consisted of senior Erika Waugh (Berne, IN/South Adams HS), freshman Ana Estrella (Hudsonville/Calvin Christian HS), junior Megan Schroder (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) and freshman Abby VanHarn (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS).

The quartet finished just over a second ahead of Hope which came in at 7:41.21.

"Our women's team came out and made an early statement," said Calvin head swim coach Dan Gelderloos. "They came out with fire and energy. It was exciting to see."

The first place performance gives Calvin an early lead in the team standings with 40 points with Hope second with 34 and Kalamazoo third with 32 points.

Action continues with morning prelims on Thursday.

MEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING

HOLLAND - The Calvin men's swimming and diving team had a strong first day of competition at the MIAA Championships Wednesday evening. In the 800 freestyle relay, the quartet of juniors Aaron Venema (Grand Haven/Grand Haven HS) and Mitch Schroder (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) and seniors Travis Vincent (Novi/Novi HS) and Alex Baumann (Holland/Holland Christian HS) took second in a time of 6:51.71. Albion took first place in the relay with a time of 6:46.10.

In the one-meter diving prelims, Calvin advanced three individuals to Thursday's finals, doing so for the first time in Calvin men's diving history.

Sophomore Dirk Tanis (Holland/Holland Christian HS) booked his ticket to the upcoming NCAA III Regional meet with qualifying scores in the six-dive round and the 11-dive round. He currently sits in third place heading into Thursday evening's finals. Freshman Michael Moentmann (Solon, OH/Solon HS) just missed national qualifying marks in Wednesday's prelims but will have a chance to do so when he competes in the Thursday evening finals. He currently sits in fifth place. Freshman Brian Bolton (Kentwood/East Kentwood HS) also had a solid evening, just missing a career-best performance. He currently sits in seventh place.

"Our divers were very solid tonight and I credit Coach (Aaron Paskvan) for doing a great job with them," said Calvin head swim coach Dan Gelderloos. "It is exciting to see their progress."

Gelderloos also gave credit to Albion for the relay win as the Britons retook the 800 freestyle relay victory throne away from the Knights after Calvin had won with a league record time in 2014. "Give credit to Albion for the win," said Gelderloos. "There were some things we could have done better but Albion stepped up and delivered. Our men need to refocus and get back to work tomorrow morning."

Action continues with Thursday morning prelims at the Holland Aquatic Center.

WOMEN'S LACROSSE

The Calvin women's lacrosse team has been picked to finish fourth in the MIAA preseason coaches' poll released earlier this afternoon.

The Knights finished third in the 2014 MIAA league standings, finishing 9-6 overall and 6-2 in the MIAA. Calvin advanced to the MIAA Tournament for the first time, bowing to Alma in the semifinals.

Calvin will be in search of its second straight MIAA Tournament berth after finishing third in the final 2014 MIAA standings. The Knights return a high scoring forward in sophomore Emily Cefaratti, who was a second team All-MIAA choice after leading Calvin in scoring with 51 points (35 goals, 16 assists). Another key returnee is senior midfielder Karissa Reed, a member of the 2014 All-MIAA second team.

Calvin opens its season on February 28 with a road contest at Aurora University. Calvin's MIAA opener is scheduled for April 1 with the Knights hosting Olivet in an 6 p.m. contest.

Preseason Poll Results (first-place votes in parenthesis): 1. Adrian (7) 10 pts. 2. Albion (1) 19. 3. Alma (1) 20. 4. Calvin 26. 5. Kalamazoo 39. 6. Hope 44. 7. Olivet 46. T8. Saint Mary's 60. T8. Trine 60.
Received on Thu Feb 12 00:14:57 2015

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.8 : Thu Feb 12 2015 - 00:14:57 EST