CKSR (Calvin Knight Weekend Sports Wrap for April 26, 2015)

CALVIN KNIGHT WEEKEND SPORTS WRAP FOR APRIL 26, 2015

WOMEN'S LACROSSE
Calvin 15, Adrian 5

ADRIAN - The Calvin women's lacrosse team wrapped up its first outright MIAA regular season title with a 15-5 victory at Adrian College Saturday afternoon. The Knights finish the MIAA regular season with an 8-0 conference mark and will carry an overall record of 11-5 into MIAA Tournament play next week.

The Knights will open MIAA Tournament play next Wednesday in a semifinal game against fourth-seeded Olivet (9-6) at 5 p.m. at Calvin's Zuidema Field. Albion (13-2) will host Hope (6-8) in the other semifinal game on Wednesday with the semifinal winners playing in the MIAA Tournament final on Saturday at the site of the highest remaining seed.

In its win over Adrian, Calvin roared through the first half, en route to taking an 11-2 halftime lead. The Knights then cruised the rest of the way to cement the win.

Sophomore Emily Cefaratti scored seven goals and assisted on one. She was also credited with three ground balls and two draw controls.

Freshman Amanda Davio had three goals and four ground balls while senior Karissa Reed and junior Carolyn Forbes both had two goals and one assist. Freshman Emma Hall also tallied a goal.

Calvin held a 28-14 shots at goal advantage. Junior goalkeeper Corry Remy tallied three saves.

Senior Delaney Callahan also scooped up four ground balls.

"The team played well today," said Calvin head women's lacrosse coach Blake Boehm. "Our defense held strong and our offense took advantage of the opportunities that were presented."

The MIAA championship is a sweet one for a Calvin team that was picked to finish fifth in the MIAA preseason coaches' poll in January said Boehm. "We're thrilled to be the outright conference champs," said Boehm. "I'm proud of this team and how they've battled together game after game. They have amazing team chemistry and a strong desire to win. We're heading into MIAA Tournament play extremely focused and with a clear understanding of our goals."

Tickets for Wednesday's MIAA Tournament semifinal game with Olivet will be on sale at the Zuidema Field entrance. Tickets are $7.00 for adults and $5.00 for students and senior citizens. MIAA students will be admitted free to the game with a valid student ID.

MEN'S LACROSSE
Hope 18, Calvin 10

HOLLAND, MI - The Calvin men's lacrosse team closed out its season by playing with heart and determination win a rivalry game at Hope College.

Producing their highest scoring total in more than four weeks, the Knights dropped an 18-10 decision to the Flying Dutchmen at Van Andel Stadium.

Hope (6-10 overall, 2-4 MIAA) used a six-goal first quarter to take the early momentum. Calvin (2-13 overall, 0-6 MIAA) battled the Flying Dutchmen on even terms for nearly the final three quarters including a 7-7 draw over the final two quarters of play.

Calvin was paced by sophomore Chris Griffin who whipped in four goals and was credited with three assists. Griffin finished the year with 19 goals to match the Calvin single-season record also shared by D.J. VanderBaan and Joel Schaefer.

Senior Jonathon VanderLaan also stood tall with three goals while freshman Nate Ray had two goals and Schaefer one goal.

Freshman Ethan Brown scooped up five ground balls while freshman Austin Roden had four ground balls. Sophomore Mitchell Alexander had six saves in goal for the Knights. Hope outshot Calvin 40-33. Turnovers proved to be crucial as the Knights turned the ball over 27 times to Hope's 16.

"We started off slow but we finished strong," said first-year Calvin men's lacrosse coach Kyle Hofstaedter. "We hustled and never gave up. I couldn't be prouder of my guys, particularly with some of the injuries that we had to fight through at the end of the year."

Saturday's game marked the final collegiate contests for Calvin seniors Jonathon VanderLaan and Luke Bosscher. "As a first-year coach I could not have done this without my two seniors," said Hofstaedter. "They were tremendous leaders. This program will continue to improve and as it grows, we'll look back on guys like Jonathon and Luke and thank them for the foundation they helped build."

MEN'S TRACK AND FIELD

The Calvin men's track and field team came up with a number of solid performances at the Aquinas College Ernie Mousseau Invitational Saturday at Houseman Field.

Highlighting the day was the performance of senior Ben de Waal Malefyt who took second in the discus with a career-best throw of 166-8 which currently ranks eighth on the NCAA III performance list.

Senior Erik Holstege had a strong afternoon, winning the 110 high hurdles (14.87) and triple jump (43-8) while also placing fourth in the 200 meters (22.66). His mark in the triple jump was a career-best. Sophomore Jeiel Burrell took second with a career-best jump of 42-7 ½.

In the 800 meters, freshman Ethan Valentine took home a win with a time of 1:56.05.

Sophomore Jon Cok tied for first in the high jump with a leap of 6-5 while junior Lucas Wolters tied for first in the pole vault with a vault of 14-7 ¼.

Calvin will now prepare to compete at the MIAA Championships April 30 and May 1 at Albion College.

WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD

The Calvin women's track and field team produced several superb performances at the Aquinas College Ernie Mousseau Invitational Saturday at Houseman Field.

Senior Christina Geating won the high jump (5-1 ¾) and pole vault (11-5 ¾) while sophomore Carissa Weiss won the triple jump (35-11 ½). Senior Jordyn Platt won the javelin (112-4) while freshman Anita VandaerMeulen won the long jump with a career-best mark of 17-9 ¾.

In the 400 meters, freshman Caroline Boss clocked a fourth place time of 59.50 while freshman Jenna Dyksen took third in the 100 hurdles with a season-best time of 14.94.

In the 3,000 meters, freshman Catherine Croft took third in a time of 11:14.49. In the 400 meter hurdles, senior Breanna Verkaik was fourth in a time of 1:05.99.

In the shot put, Calvin had good performances from freshman Bethany Love and junior Stacie Mead as Love was fourth (38-11 ¾) and Mead fifth (38-3 ½).

Calvin will now prepare to compete at the MIAA Championships April 30 and May 1 at Albion College.

MEN'S TENNIS
Calvin 6, Hope 3

HOLLAND - With the pressure on, the Calvin men's tennis team delivered, defeating rival Hope 6-3 on Saturday to clinch a berth in next week's MIAA Tournament.

Calvin needed a win against Hope on Saturday to advance to the MIAA Tournament. If the Knights would have lost, a three-way tie for third place would have been created and the Knights would have been out of the tournament due to tie-breaker rules.

Calvin did not go down that road however as it swept the three doubles points. Sophomore Taylor Asfour and freshman Matt VanWinkle pulled off an 8-5 win at No. 1 doubles while senior Tom Griffin and junior Matt Buesing won 8-5 at No. 2 doubles. Sophomores Jared Doezema and Anthony Vroon also won 8-4 at No. 3 doubles, giving the Knights all the momentum heading into singles play.

Calvin then held serve, splitting the six singles points to register the win.

Griffin was a 6-1, 6-1 winner at No. 2 singles while freshman David Brown (No. 5) and sophomore Gene Hill (No. 6) coasted to 6-0, 6-0 wins.

"It was a great team victory and I'm proud of the mental focus our team came in with today," said Calvin men's tennis coach John Ross. "We were disappointed by our effort at Alma on Friday. Give Alma credit for beating us but our execution Friday should have been better. We did a good job of putting that match behind us in short order and stepped up when we needed to today."

Calvin is now 9-8 overall and finishes tied for second in the MIAA standings with Adrian at 4-2. Due to a head-to-head tiebreaker with Adrian, Calvin gains the No. 2 seed for the upcoming MIAA Tournament and will host the Bulldogs in an MIAA Tournament semifinal match next Thursday at 4 p.m.

WOMEN'S TENNIS
Calvin 8, Trine 1

The Calvin women's tennis team closed out its MIAA regular season campaign with an 8-1 win over the visiting Trine Thunder Saturday afternoon. The Knights finish third in the final MIAA regular season standings at 6-2 and will be the third seed for next week's four-team MIAA Tournament. Calvin (12-7 overall) will travel to Kalamazoo next Thursday for an MIAA Tournament semifinal match at 4 p.m.

Calvin opened play in impressive fashion by sweeping all three doubles points. Senior Megan Visser and sophomore Claire Spoelhof were 8-4 winners at No. 1 doubles, sophomore Ellie Benzel and freshman Jessica Bouma 8-3 winners at No. 2 doubles and sophomore Liz Turner and freshman Kari Kroezer 9-7 winners at No. 3 doubles.

Calvin then kept up the pressure in singles play. Visser claimed a 6-1, 6-4 win at No. 1 singles while Benzel was a 6-1, 7-6 winner at No. 2 singles.

Spoelhof came up with a 6-1, 6-4 win at No. 3 singles while Bouma was a 6-3, 6-0 winner at No. 4 singles and senior Ali Roode a 6-1, 6-1 winner at No. 5 singles.

Saturday's match marked the final regular season home match by Calvin seniors Megan Visser, Ali Roode and Courtney Selvius.

"It was great to come out with a win on Senior Day," said Calvin women's tennis coach Kevin VanHaitsma. "All three seniors have been a big part of our success and sustaining this program during their careers. They have been exemplary student-athletes on and off the court at Calvin and we are very proud of them."

Calvin will now prepare for its MIAA Tournament match next Thursday. The Knights will be making their third appearance in the four-team MIAA Tournament in the last four years. "We missed the conference tournament last year," said VanHaitsma. "Getting back to the tournament was one of our primary goals this year and it feels good to accomplish that particular goal."

MEN'S GOLF

WEST OLIVE - The Calvin men's golf team completed play at the MIAA Spring qualifier on Saturday at the Wuskowhan Player's Club. The Knights posted a final round team score of 305 that left the Knights in third place in the final 54-hole team standings.

Host Hope took first place in the final spring tournament standings at 873 strokes followed by Trine at 886, Calvin at 907 and Adrian fourth at 933.

Senior James Van Noord had the top score for Calvin on Saturday with a 73, sharing (Saturday) medalist honors with Connor Dwyer of Trine. Freshman Ben VanScoyk and junior Justin Crow both had rounds of 77 for Calvin on Saturday while freshman John VanNoord had a 78 and junior Jason Zeigler an 81.

As the winner of the MIAA Spring qualifier, Hope advances to the NCAA III Tournament as a team.
Calvin will close out its season next Saturday when it hosts the Calvin Knight Alumni Cup at the Watermark Country Club.

MIAA SPRING QUALIFIER 54-HOLE ROUND SCORES

Hope 284-288-301 = 873
Trine 294-293-886 = 886
Calvin 297-305-305 = 907
Adrian 297-310-326 = 933

WOMEN'S GOLF

BYRON CENTER - The Calvin women's golf team closed out its 2014-15 campaign with a match-play competition against Cornerstone University at Railside Country Club Saturday afternoon.

Calvin claimed all five head-to-head matches to win by a 5-0 score.

Calvin junior Jennie Poole picked up the first point for Calvin by defeating Whitney Krieger 5-4. Calvin junior Casey Harkema then claimed a 6-5 decision over Cornerstone's Jordan Sprehe.

At the No. 3 spot in the lineup, Calvin junior Sarah Arendsen claimed a 5-4 win over Cornerstone's Heather Promer.

Junior Shara Reynolds then defeated Claire Niergarth 2-1.

Calvin's final win came at the No. 5 spot with sophomore Amira Bousaab defeating Monica Anderson 7-6.

SOFTBALL
Olivet 13, Calvin 5
Olivet 13, Calvin 5
By Mark DeHaan

Calvin softball completed its season against Olivet College on Saturday, dropping a pair of games by identical 13-5 scores.

The Knights also honored three players who were playing in their final game in a Calvin uniform: junior Alyssa Bryan, senior Kelsey Pollock, and senior Christie VanderMeer.

In game one, the Knights and Comets were tied after three innings at 2-2.

Olivet then plated seven in the top of the fourth, including a pair of two-RBI hits, to build a 9-2 advantage.

Calvin got one run back in the bottom half of the inning, which was matched by an Olivet run in the top of the sixth.

The Comets scored three more in the seventh to push its lead to 13-3.

The Knights responded with two in the bottom half of the inning on a two-run shot from Pollock, but could not complete the comeback as Calvin fell 13-5.

Junior Lydia Gildea went 2-for-3 with one RBI and one run scored, while Pollock finished 1-for-3 with two RBI and one run scored.

Freshman Makela Chapman took the loss in the circle.

For Olivet, Devon Mayse was 5-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored.

In game two, the Knights jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the top of the first inning.

Olivet got on the board in the third on an RBI double.

The Comets then took the lead in the fourth as a grand slam put Olivet on top 6-2.

Calvin drew within one with three runs in the top of the fifth, but a quick response from the Comets in the bottom of the fifth saw four runs put Olivet ahead 10-5.

The Comets then plated three runs in the bottom of the sixth to induce the mercy rule with a 13-5 final score.

Freshman Kaley Frank was 2-for-4 in game two with one RBI, while Pollock was 1-for-4 with one run scored and one RBI.

Sophomore Paige Groom took the loss in the circle.

For Olivet, Kris Forest was 2-for-4 with six RBI and two runs scored.

"We never really put it together; when we got good pitching our defense let us down; when we got good at bats we didn't get the pitching we needed," said head coach Tim Syrek. "The nice thing is, we have a lot of young kids coming back and they got a lot of valuable experience. I simply believe that we will be back in the tournament next year. I want us to grind out and get back to the tournament, winning 20-plus games and doing what Calvin is capable of doing."

"They are quality kids," said Syrek about the three honorees, playing in their final Calvin games. "They were kids that you love to coach and love to have on your team. Their legacy is greater than our win-loss record; their legacy is the relationships that they've made."

The Knights end their season at 10-22 overall and 4-12 in the MIAA.

Gildea finished the year with a final season batting average of .407 which ranks eighth on the Calvin single-season list. Her final season slugging percentage of .617 also ranks seventh on the Calvin single-season records list.
Received on Sun Apr 26 18:36:40 2015