CKSR (Jordan Daley Named to CoSIDA Academic All-District Team in Men's Basketball / Women's Tennis Opens Season With 9-0 Win Over Cornerstone / Baseball Prepping for Upcoming 2016 Campaign)

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR FEBRUARY 11, 2016

Jordan Daley Named to CoSIDA Academic All-District Team in Men's Basketball;
Women's Tennis Opens Season With 9-0 Win Over Cornerstone;
Baseball Team Prepping for Upcoming 2016 Campaign

MEN'S BASKETBALL

Calvin College senior Jordan Daley has been named to the Division III CoSIDA Academic All-District (VI) men's basketball team.
As a member of the all-district team, Daley is now eligible for CoSIDA Academic All-America consideration.
A native of Grand Rapids and a graduate of Grand Rapids Christian High School, Daley is in the midst of a standout senior campaign. Daley, is averaging 19.0 points and 6.1 rebounds a game. He recently moved into 21st place on the Calvin career scoring list with 1,029 career points.
This year, Daley has been named to all-tournament teams at the Grand Rapids Press Sports Hall of Fame Classic and D3hoops.com Classic. He has collected three double-doubles including a 27-point, 11-rebound performance at rival Hope on January 27. He recently scored a career-high 32 points in a February 3 game against Albion.
In the classroom, Daley is a psychology major with minors in Spanish and kinesiology. He is a three-time member of the MIAA Academic Honor Roll and was a member of the NABC (National Association of Basketball Coaches) Honors Court last summer. He is currently serving an internship with the Calvin Center for Social Research.

WOMEN'S TENNIS

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Knights didn't drop a set on Thursday evening as the Knights started the 2016 season with a convincing 9-0 victory over Cornerstone. Calvin starts the year at 1-0 and the Golden Eagles fall to 0-5 on the season.
"It was a great way to start the season," said head coach Kevin Van Haitsma. "I was very pleased with how we started with doubles today and I am happy with how we played in singles. It is always nice to win and to start 1-0 on the year."
The Knights had no trouble with doubles in the win. The junior duo of Ellie Benzel and Claire Spoelhof swept the Golden Eagles team of Heidi Boesl and Ashley Greene at No. 1 doubles, 8-0.
Cornerstone had won at No. 2 doubles the past two season over the Knights, but the streak ended tonight with sophomore Jessica Bouma and sophomore Kari Kroeze winning over Cornerstone's Rachel Kono and Nicole Huizenga, 8-1.
At No. 3 doubles, junior Liz Turner and sophomore Lark Foote were victorious over Kali Holmes and Tori Young, 8-0.
Sophomore Micaela Seazzu swept Rachel Kono in straight sets at No. 4 singles, 6-0, 6-0.
A few minutes later, Jessica Bouma earned the victory at No. 3 singles. Bouma defeated Nicole Huizenga, 6-2, 6-0.
Ellie Benzel made quick work of Heidi Boesl at No. 1 singles, downing the Golden Eagle, 6-1, 6-2.
At No. 2 singles, Claire Spoelhof notched the win over Ashley Greene, 6-3, 6-1.
Freshman Alyssa Bowman walked away the winner at No. 5 singles, defeating Kali Holmes, 6-0, 6-0.
Kari Kroeze finished out the night winning at No. 6 singles over Tori Young, 6-0, 6-0.
The Knights return to action on Feb. 26 as they travel to Wheaton, Illinois to face the Thunder.

BASEBALL

The countdown to the 2016 Calvin baseball season has begun. Practice sessions for the 2016 began earlier this week.

Under head coach John Rypel, the Knights are coming off a 22-21 campaign last spring with Calvin finishing second in the final MIAA regular season standings with a 17-11 conference mark. Calvin then reached the MIAA Tournament Championship game for the second straight year before falling to Adrian in the title tilt.

Calvin returns two players who received All-MIAA honors in 2015 as junior first baseman Colton Wolfe was a member of the All-MIAA first team while junior Patrick Avila (Lakewood, CA/Valley Christian HS) was a member of the All-MIAA second team.

Wolfe was named MIAA Position Player of the Week once during the 2015 season. He led the MIAA in home runs (6), was tied for fourth in doubles (10), tied for fifth in runs scored (21), tied for seventh in runs batted in (21), was tied for eighth in hits (32) and finished ninth in the MIAA batting race (.356).

A third baseman last spring, Avila batted .324 in league play with 20 runs batted in and 14 runs scored. Avila is expected to make the transition from third base to catcher this season.

Other returning starters include senior outfielder Jordan VanderWall (Wyoming/South Christian HS), sophomore outfielder Nick Steigenga (Mahwah, NJ/Eastern Christian HS), and sophomore shortstop Nate DeZwaan (Hamilton/Holland Christian HS). Junior Matt Kotva (Elkhart, Ind./Concord HS) also saw starting time in the outfield and at the designated hitter spot while sophomore Ryan Stewart (Detroit/Parkway Christian HS) received good playing time off the bench as an outfielder and as a relief pitcher.

Stewart figures to again figure in the Calvin pitching staff and will be part of a talented but youthful group of hurlers. Stewart was 4-1 last spring with a 2.35 earned run average. Senior Kyle Wasserberger (Spring Lake/Spring Lake HS) is one of the elder statesmen on the Calvin pitching staff. Wasserberger was a spot starter and long reliever in 2015, fashioning a 3-4 record with two saves. Matt Poolman (Grand Rapids/South Christian HS) is another senior on the Calvin pitching staff. Sophomores Kyle Vens (White Lake/Oakland Christian HS), Schuyler Van Tol (Whitinsville, Mass./Whitinsville Christian HS) and Stephen Burt (Aurora, IL/Aurora Christian HS) also saw limited duty out of the bullpen as freshmen last spring.

Other returning letterwinners include junior outfielder Quincy Jackson (Elizabethtown, TN/Elizabethtown HS) and sophomore infielders Brady Syrek (Otsego/Otsego HS), and Hunter Darling (Sutton, Mass./Whitinsville Christian HS).

Calvin is slated to open its season with a three-game series against Denison University March 4 and 5 in Westfield, Indiana. Calvin's annual spring trip to Orlando, Florida, will take place between March 14-19 with the Knights slated to participate in seven games.

Calvin will open its MIAA season with a home doubleheader against Trine University on March 25.

For a preseason audio podcast with head coach John Rypel, visit the Calvin website at: http://static.psbin.com/r/2/k0iowv8hbuw5ry/CalvinBaseballOutlook2016PartOne.mp3 for part one and to the Calvin website at: http://static.psbin.com/0/p/js9zkw1yt3wq48/CalvinBaseballOutlook2016PartTwo.mp3
Received on Thu Feb 11 22:50:50 2016