CKSR (Volleyball Advances to National Quarterfinals - To Face Johnson and Wales Thursday at 8 p.m. at Van Noord Arena)

CALVIN KNIGHT WEEKEND SPORTS WRAP FOR NOV. 12, 2017 (Part Two)
Volleyball Advances to National Quarterfinals - To Face Johnson and Wales Thursday at 8 p.m. at Van Noord Arena
VOLLEYBALL

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The NCAA released the quarterfinal parings on Sunday evening for the Thursday matches. Calvin is the No. 5 seed in the bracket and will play Johnson & Wales from Rhode Island. The match is scheduled to begin at 8:00 p.m. at Van Noord Arena.
Calvin is 29-3 on the year and is coming off victories over Washington University in St. Louis, Millikin, and Carthage in the Bloomington, Illinois Regional.
Johnson & Wales is 35-0 on the year, with a 12-0 record in the GNAC. The Wildcats won their regional with victories over Elms, Wesleyan, and MIT.
Calvin has gained the No. 5 seed for the quarterfinal round of the NCAA III Championship. Wittenberg is the No. 1 seed; Emory the No. 2 seed, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps the No. 3 seed, Johnson and Wales the No. 4 seed, Gustavus Adolphus the No. 6 seed, Ithaca the No. 7 seed and Swarthmore the No. 8 seed.
The winner of the match will play the winner of the No. 1 Wittenberg vs. No. 8 Swarthmore match at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
The other matches will be No. 2 Emory vs. No. 7 Ithaca at 12:30 p.m. and at 3:00 p.m. No. 3 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps plays No. 6 Gustavus Adolphus.
All matches this weekend will be played at Van Noord Arena. The championship match will be at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday.

WOOD RADIO TALK OF THE TOWN AUDIO INTERVIEW WITH CALVIN DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS JIM TIMMER PREVIEWING THE NCAA III VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: http://static.psbin.com/x/1/u6uvko3wzwr1k2/Calvin_College_Athletics_Talk_of_the_Town_Interview.mp3
UPDATED NCAA III WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT BRACKET: http://calvinknights.com/sports/wvball/2017-18/files/2017_DIII_WVB_BRACKET_with_teams-.pdf

MORE VOLLEYBALL

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - For the third time in four seasons, the Calvin volleyball team met the Lady Reds of Carthage College in the NCAA Division III Regional Finals. The No. 2 ranked Knights defeated No. 17 Carthage, 25-16, 25-17, 21-25, 19-25, 15-9. Calvin advances to the NCAA quarterfinals for the second-straight year. Calvin improves to 29-3 on the year and Carthage finishes at 27-9.
"It feels great," said Calvin head coach Dr. Amber Warners. "First of all I would like to say thank you to Illinois Wesleyan, it was a fantastically run tournament. I would like to also congratulate Leanne and Carthage, what a great comeback they had, they showed a lot of fortitude; I know they had some injuries, but a lot of guts, a really gutsy performance. What a tough region, we knew that coming in. I think we had a chip on our shoulder with how tough it was and I think that helped us.
The Knights started fast in the first set, senior Kristen Vyletel (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron) got the ball rolling with a service ace to start the match and push Calvin to a 3-0 lead. Leading 5-3, the Knights broke the set open with the serve of sophomore Sarah DeVries (Grand Rapids, Mich./Northpointe Christian) to make it 10-3, senior Jenna Lodewyk (Villa Park, Ill./Timothy Christian) had two kills in the run. After Carthage cut the lead to 15-12, Calvin responded with an 8-2 run to put the set out of reach. The Knights claimed the set at 25-17 with a Carthage service error. Senior Tessa Van Laare (Toronto, Ont./Toronto District Christian) led all players with four kills in the first set. Junior Keilahna Castillo (Grandville, Mich./Grandville) recorded a kill for the second-straight match.
The Maroon and Gold continued to apply pressure to the Lady Reds in the second set and jumped out to 14-3 lead to start the set. Carthage would not go away and closed the set on a 6-2 run. For the second-straight set, a Carthage service error ended the set, this time at 15-17. Sarah DeVries led the Knights with four kills and five digs in the second set.
The Lady Reds carried their momentum from the second set into the third and started with a 7-1 lead. That lead would quickly evaporate with the help of the serve of Sarah DeVries, as the Knights cut the deficit to 7-6.
After Carthage went on a 3-0, Calvin countered with a 4-0 run to tie the set at 13. With the set tied at 19, Carthage closed the set on a 6-2 run to take the third set, 25-21.
The Knights started the fourth set with a 3-0 run on the serve of senior Emily Blankespoor (Grand Rapids, Mich./South Christian). The momentum then flipped and the Lady Reds went on a 9-0 run to take control of the set. The Knights did not fold and cut the deficit to 12-10, but that would be as close as they would get, with Carthage winning 25-19.
The Knights found themselves in a similar situation on Thursday, leading Washington University 2-0, to have the Bears tie the match at two. Calvin entered the evening with a 3-0 record in five-set matches in 2017, with victories over Cal Lutheran, Millikin, and Washington.
Calvin and Carthage started the fifth set neck and neck, with the set tied at four; Calvin grabbed the momentum with a 3-0 run, with two Carthage hitting errors and an Anna Kamp kill. Leading 8-6, the Knights recorded a 4-0 run with Jenna Lodewyk serving. Calvin closed the match with kills from senior Tessa Van Laare (Toronto, Ont./Toronto District Christian) and Sarah DeVries to win 15-9.
Sarah DeVries, Anna Kamp, and Sarah DeVries were all named to the Bloomington Regional All-Tournament Team. Kamp was named the MVP of the tournament.
Sarah DeVries led the match in kills at 16 and led Calvin with a career-high 22 digs and three service aces.
Anna Kamp tallied 12 kills, Tessa Van Laare finished with eight kills.
Jenna Lodewyk recorded 33 assists and seven kills.
Keilahna Castillo picked up 19 digs in the win.
Calvin defeated three ranked teams in the AVCA rankings to advance in No. 13 Washington University, No. 11 Millikin, and No. 17 Carthage. The Knights won the regional as the No. 5 seed.
The Knights will play in the NCAA Quarterfinals on Thursday at 8:00 p.m. at Van Noord Arena.
Received on Sun Nov 12 23:30:33 2017