CKSR (Men's Soccer Picks Up Shutout Victory at Alma - Retains Share of MIAA Lead / Volleyball Sweeps Albion - Remains on Top of MIAA Standings)

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR SEPT. 22, 2015

Men's Soccer Picks Up Shutout Victory at Alma - Retains Share of MIAA Lead;
Volleyball Sweeps Albion - Remains on Top of MIAA Standings

MEN'S SOCCER
Calvin 1, Alma 0

ALMA - With first place on the line in the MIAA standings, Calvin rose to the occasion Tuesday afternoon to claim a 1-0 victory at Alma's Scotland Yard. Now ranked sixth nationally, Calvin improves to 7-0-1 overall and to 3-0-0 in the MIAA with the win. The Knights are now tied with Adrian (3-0-0 MIAA) for first place in the league standings with Alma, Albion and Kalamazoo all three points behind with 2-1-0 conference marks.

Calvin scored the only goal of the game 5:17 into the match as junior midfielder Stephan Hooker (Hudsonville/Unity Christian HS) collected a cross from sophomore Mitch Stark (South Lyon/South Lyon HS) and rocketed in his fourth goal of the season. The assist was the fifth of the season for Stark.

The goal came on Calvin's second shot of the game. The Knights procedeed to crank off 15 more shots but could not beat Alma goalkeeper Nick Strait again as Strait recorded five saves.

Senior goalkeeper Niko Giantsopoulos (Markham, Ont./St. Augustine Catholic HS) posted two saves for Calvin in recording his fifth clean sheet of the season including his third straight.

"That's a great result against a very good Alma team," said Calvin men's soccer coach Ryan Souders after the match against the Scots who dipped to 5-2-0 overall. "Every single guy on our roster 1-226 was a factor in this victory. I certainly felt like finishing could have been better, but I am very happy with this results. This was a really tough conference game on the road. Now we have to regroup and play a tough Olivet team on the road this Saturday."

Calvin's game at Olivet on Saturday is scheduled to begin at noon.

Earlier in the day, Calvin moved up nine spots in the national rankings as the Knights are now ranked sixth in the latest National Soccer Coaches Association of America. That poll can be found online at: http://www.nscaa.com/rankings/4402/NCAADivisionIII/men/National/Poll2

MIAA MEN'S SOCCER STANDINGS THROUGH 9-22-15 GAMES

Calvin 3-0-0
Adrian 3-0-0
Alma 2-1-0
Albion 2-1-0
Kalamazoo 2-1-0
Trine 0-3-0
Hope 0-3-0
Olivet 0-3-0

VOLLEYBALL
Calvin 3, Albion 0

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Knights improved to 10-3 and 5-0 in conference play on Tuesday defeating Albion, 3-0. Albion falls to 10-4 on the year and 1-3 in the MIAA.
"It is always nice to get a win," said head coach Amber Warners. "I thought we played a little bit tight and tense today. I think we are trying some new things in the lineup and some of the players weren't as relaxed as normal. Part of our job as coaches is to try to get the best fit that we can and so what we saw this weekend, we are trying some new things. I was really happy with how intense we were and Albion is a really improved team and we didn't really let that panic us. I thought some of our hitters had the best match they have had all season."
Albion started the first set off with the foot on the acceleration, taking an early, 3-0, lead behind the serving of Ami Milligan. The Knights would strike back with two-straight kills from senior Maggie Kamp (Orland Park, Ill./Chicago Christian HS). With the set tied at six, the Knights would go on a 7-0 run, behind the serve of Maggie Kamp to extend the lead to, 13-6. Calvin wouldn't look back from there, taking the set, 25-18.
Maggie Kamp anchored the Calvin offense in the second set, Kamp tallied 10 kills, 11 digs and an ace in the set. With the Knights leading in the second set at, 10-5, the Knights and Britons would go on to exchange points until, 16-11. The Knights would go on to finish the set on a 9-4 run. Calvin finished the set with a .360 hitting-percentage.
In the third set, the Knights were led by five aces, with two from Maggie Kamp and junior Laura Danhoff (Willard, Ohio/Willard HS) and one from freshman Rachel Herrera (Scheverville, Ind./Illiana Christian HS). Laura Danhoff helped the Knights start the set with an early 4-0 lead. Albion would cut the Calvin lead to 14-9, but the Knights would respond with a 5-2, run to extend the lead to, 19-11. The Knights would take the set, 25-15.
Maggie Kamp finished the match with 20 kills, 15 digs and five aces. Laura Danhoff tallied 12 kills, while freshman Anna Kamp (Orland Park, Ill./Chicago Christian HS) had seven kills. Sophomore Jenna Lodewyk (Villa Park, Ill./Timothy Christian HS) recorded 40 assists and freshman Keilahna Castillo (Grandville, Mich./Grandville) had 15 digs.

The Knights return to action on Friday as Calvin travels to Alma to face Alma and Heidelberg. The action is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. against Alma.

Calvin is now ranked fifth nationally by the American Volleyball Coaches Association of America. That poll can be found online at: http://www.avca.org/divisions/division-three-women/poll-9-22-15/

MIAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 9-22-15 PLAY

Calvin 5-0
Hope 4-1
Trine 3-2
Saint Mary's 2-2
Adrian 2-2
Alma 2-2
Olivet 1-3
Albion 1-3
Olivet 0-5
Received on Tue Sep 22 23:32:57 2015