CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR OCTOBER 16, 2015
Volleyball Claims Midwest Invite Wins Over Bluffton and #7 Wittenberg;
Men's JV Cross Country Places 6th at Muskegon Jayhawk Invitational
VOLLEYBALL
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Calvin volleyball team picked up two victories over Bluffton and No. 7 Wittenberg on Friday at the Calvin Midwest Invitational. The Knights started the day beating the Beavers of Bluffton University, 3-0. Calvin would finish the day taming the No. 7 Tigers of Wittenberg, 3-1. Calvin improved to 19-3 on the season with the two victories.
"We are taking this one set at a time and one point at a time," said head coach Amber Warners. "I Think I say that every year. But I think we are just trying to focus always on the next opponent. We talked in the locker room of how proud I am of them. I am proud of their fight and their resolve tonight and we can have those feelings for a while but we have to start thinking about tomorrow. Eastern and Clarkson are two very good teams.
The Knights started the day on a 5-0 run against the visiting Beavers of Bluffton. Junior Laura Danhoff (Willard, Ohio/Willard) and senior Maggie Kamp (Orland Park, Ill./Chicago Christian) both tallied a kill in the run. The Beavers would counter the Calvin run with a 9-2 run of their own to take a 9-7 lead. With the Knights trailing, 9-11, Calvin would go on an 8-0 run behind the serve of sophomore Emily Blankespoor (Grand Rapids, Mich./South Christian) to take a 17-11 lead. The run was aided by an ace from Blankespoor and two kills from Maggie Kamp and Laura Danhoff. The Beavers wouldn't quit in the first set, taking seven of the next eight points to tie the match at 18. The Knights would go on to close the door on Bluffton in the set, finishing on a 7-3 run. Sophomore Kristen Vyletel (Ann Arbor, Mich./Ann Arbor Huron) recorded her eighth ace of the season in the first set to help secure the set at 25-21.
The serve of Emily Blankespoor helped the Knights get off to an early 3-0 lead in the second set. The Knights would not look back from there, Calvin would not trail the rest of the set. Calvin would go on to finish the set on a 10-2 to take the set, 25-12. The run was finished with a kill by Maggie Kamp, who had five total kills in the second set.
The Beavers jumped out to an early 5-4 lead in the third set. Freshman Anna Kamp (Orland Park, Ill./Chicago Christian) would record three-straight kills to give the Knight a 7-5 lead. The Knights would not give the Beavers back the lead, taking six of the next eight points, to give Calvin a 13-7 lead. The Beavers would once again fight back to tie the set at 18, Calvin struck back taking the next three points and would go on to take the set, 25-21. Calvin hit .517 in the third set.
Maggie Kamp led the team in kills with 13, Laura Danhoff finished with nine kills. Sophomore Jenna Lodewyk (Villa Park, Ill./Timothy Christian) tallied 32 assists against the Beavers. Emily Blankespoor had three aces and freshman Keilahna Castillo posted 13 digs in the match.
The Knights finished the night with top-10 fight with the No. 7 Wittenberg Tigers. Wittenberg came into the match with a 15-1 record.
The Knights came out of the gates quick against the Tigers taking the first four points in the first set from the Tigers. Maggie came started the match with two quick kills from the serve of Laura Danhoff, Jenna Lodewyk also tallied a kill. The Knights would continue to apply pressure to the No. 7 Tigers and went on a 5-3 run to extend the lead to 9-3. The Tigers would claw back to get to 9-7. After a Wittenberg service error, the Knights would go on another 4-2 run to make it 14-9. The Knights would not look back in the set and would take the set, 25-19.
The second set saw the Knights hold the Tigers to their lowest 25-point set points total in 2015 at nine. Wittenberg took an early 1-0 lead at the start of the second set off of a Calvin serving error and it would be the last lead of the set for the Tigers. The Knights went on a four-point run behind two aces from Laura Danhoff. With the Knights leading 6-5, Calvin would go on a 5-1 run to extend the lead to 11-6. The Tigers would take the next point but then the Knights would take the next six. Calvin finished the set on a 14-2 run.
Wittenberg wouldn't go away and jumped out to an early 8-4 lead in the fourth set. The Knights would fight back behind two aces from Keilahna Castillo to tie the set at 13. The two teams would go on to exchange points and the lead until 24-24. The Tigers would take the next two points with kills from Melissa Emming and Kendall Farmer to stay alive in the match and take the set, 26-24. The Knights hit .688 in the second set. Senior Jamie Kooiman (Eugene, Ore./South Eugene) and Keilahna Castillo both recorded nine digs in third set.
The Knights didn't allow the Tigers to jump out to an early lead again in the fourth set, with Calvin taking an early 7-4 lead. The Knights would extend their lead to 9-6 before the Tigers tied the set at nine. Maggie Kamp then gave the Knights the lead with a kill that Calvin would not give up the rest of the set. Behind the serve of Laura Danhoff the Knights extended the lead to 13-9. Calvin would extend the lead once again to 21-17, where the Tigers would claw back to 21-20. After a Calvin timeout the Knights sprung back to life with another kill from Maggie Kamp. The Knights would take the set, 25-22.
The victory over the No. 7 Tigers was the fourth win for the Knights over a ranked opponent in 2015. Jamie Kooiman recorded a career-high 18 digs on Friday evening. Keilahna Castillo also finished with 18. Maggie Kamp led the Knights with 19 will with sophomore Tessa Van Laare (Toronto, Ontario/Toronto District Christian) finishing with 13 kills. Jenna Lodewyk finished the match with 45 assists. Calvin had a total of 15 aces as a team, with Laura Danhoff leading with six. Tessa Van Laare had 1.5 blocks for Calvin.
The Knights return to action on Saturday as they finish the Midwest Invitational. Calvin opens the day at 10 a.m. against the No. 18 Clarkson Golden Knights and finish the day at 2 p.m. against the No. 9 Eagles of Eastern University. Both matches will take place at Van Noord Arena.
MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
MUSKEGON, Mich. - The Calvin men's JV cross country team placed sixth at the Muskegon Jayhawk Invitational on Friday with a team score of 184 points.
Senior Landon Potts (Caledonia/South Christian HS) was the top finisher for the Calvin men, placing 21st in a time of 26:38. Freshman Nathanael Dick (Grand Rapids/Home Schooled) was 38th (27:09), junior Nick Aukerman (Ann Arbor/Pioneer HS) 45th (27:15), freshman Jack Randall (Hopkington, Mass./Whitinsville Christian HS) 57th (27:38) and sophomore Matt Boelens (Bolton, Mass./Nashoba Regional) 78th (28:11) to round out Calvin's top group.
Freshman Gabe Hawley (East Jordan/East Jordan HS) was 120th (30:20) and sophomore Marshall Morehead (Wyoming/Calvin Christian HS) 122nd (30:21) to complete Calvin's finishers.
Calvin's varsity runners will compete at the UW-Oshkosh Brooks Invitational on Saturday.
Received on Fri Oct 16 23:15:24 2015
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