Daily Sports Update

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR NOV. 21, 2009 (PART ONE)

Women's Basketball Captures Wilmington Tournament Title; Men's Basketball Defeats Lake Forest In Consolation Game of Calvin Tip-Off Tourney; Swimming and Diving Teams Fall to Wayne State in Dual Meet Action

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

WILMINGTON, OH—Calvin captured the championship of the Wilmington College Domino's Tip-Off Tournament, defeating host Wilmington 67-59 in the championship game Saturday afternoon.

With freshman center Carissa Verkaik (Holland Christian HS) saddled with foul trouble on Saturday, senior forward Brook Van Eck (Lowell HS) stepped up to provide a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Freshman Allison Wolffis (Muskegon-Mona Shores HS) also scored 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds off the bench.

For her efforts, Van Eck was named the tournament MVP. She was joined on the all-tournament team from Calvin by Wolffis.

"We're just really excited to win this tournament," said Calvin women's basketball coach John Ross. "I was really proud of our effort, particularly since we played most of the game without Carissa. We had contributions from everyone down the line. We played really loose and upbeat. Our effort was tremendous. We're not focusing on wins and losses right now. We're just going out and playing right now."

Calvin led 38-35 at halftime and stretched its lead to as many as 11 points in the second half. Wilmington later trimmed the lead to five points late in the second half but the Knights connected on four free throws in the final 1:30 to help seal the win.

Calvin (3-0) limited Wilmington (1-1) to 33.8 percent field goal shooting and enjoyed a six-point advantage at the free throw line with the Knights connecting on 17 of 24 at the line (.708) while Wilmington was 11 of 17 (.647) at the stripe.

Calvin returns to action next Friday when it faces Elmhurst (IL) in a tournament hosted by Olivet College.

All-Tournament Team: Rose-Hulman: Eli Baca Marian: Nikki Schmidt Wilmington: Kortney Kin Wilmington: Amy Bricker Calvin: Ally Wolffis MVP: Calvin: Brook VanEck

MEN'S BASKETBALL

After dropping their opening round game to Grace Bible College in disappointing fashion, the Calvin Knights rebounded with an 85-78 victory over Lake Forest College on Saturday.

The Knights opened the game shooting hot from the field and transition points got Calvin out to an 8-1 lead early. But the Foresters battled back to take a 9-8 lead and the teams traded points for most of the first half.

Eventually, Calvin's scorching hot shooting was too much for Lake Forest in the first half. Calvin shot 64% from behind the arc with junior Danny Rodts contributing 14 points off of 3-3 shooting from three-point territory. Brent Schuster also displayed his mid-range talent with 8 first half points of his own. A John Mantel buzzer-beating three from the right wing gave Calvin a 49-44 lead going into the second half.

Lake Forest hung around in the second half, despite strong efforts from Calvin's Mantel. Mantel exhibited the inside presence Calvin so desperately needed in their first round game. His baseline fade-away and "and-one" efforts maintained a Calvin lead in the second half. Halfway through the first half, however, the Foresters tied the game at 63, and later took a two point lead. Freshmen Bryan Powell then stepped up and hit a crucial three-pointer to give Calvin a 68-67 lead. Calvin then continued to bang the ball inside. Another tough lay-up with a foul for Mantel gave Calvin a six point lead, which they controlled through the remainder of the game. Free throws and rebounding kept Calvin on pace, concluding an 85-78 victory for Calvin.

Mantel led the Knights in scoring with 23 points. He was also the leading rebounder, with eight boards to his name. Rodts finished with 20 points of his own, and shot 5-10 from the field.

"I told the team before the game, we are going to find out a lot about the character and hear of this team. We were mentally really good. We were very enthusiastic with a lot of talk and encouragement," said Coach Kevin Vande Streek.

Vande Streek added that he was excited to see more success in the paint, something he feels should be a strength of the Knights.

On the overall performance of his team, Vande Streek concluded, "I'm disappointed with didn't win the tournament, but in the big picture that's not the biggest thing. We gained experience."

In the championship game, Davenport defeated Grace Bible College 78-74.

All Tournament Team: Patrick Hanley (Lake Forest), John Mantel (Calvin), Allen Durham (Grace Bible), Nathan Cox (Davenport), MVP: James Neslon(Davenport)

MEN'S AND WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING

In another day of action for the Calvin swim and dive team and despite taking a pair of losses for both men and women's teams, the Knights swam what coach Dan Gelderloos called their best meet of the year at home against Division II team Wayne State University.

A Saturday event held at Calvin's Venema Aquatic Center, the losses pushed Calvin's season record to 2-2 and 1-3 for the women and men respectively in dual meet action. The women, recently ranked at #5 in the Division III Top 25 poll, fell by a score of 146-92, and the men, who have received votes in the poll but are not ranked in the Top 25, lost by a team score of 164-74.

"Today we swam what was probably our best meet so far," Gelderloos said after the meet had concluded. "Sometimes it's good to step up your confidence and get out of your comfort zone to get a reality check of what else is out there."

"We found out some things and got some good surprises here today," Gelderloos continued, "and we found some other things that will need some more time to work on, but all in all we're going to hit the break feeling good about ourselves."

On the women's side, the best finishes were a first place finish by Stephanie Fox in the 200 yd free at 1:56.53, and second place finishes in the 200 yd medley relay by the A-team at 1:51.56, the 50 yd free by Monica Bressler at 24.87, the 400 yd IM by Rachel Colasurdo at 4:51.14, the 100 yd free by Colasurdo at 54.64, the 500 yd free by Fox at 5:15.52, and in 1 metr diving by Cassandra Herman with a score of 255.35.

For the men there were second place finishes in the 50 yd free by Mark Rushlow at 22.32 and in the 200 yd free relay by the A-team at 1:31.30. Third place finishes included the 200 yd medley relay by the A-team at 1:41.21, the 50 yd free by Kurt Van Allsburg at 22.41, the 400 yd IM by Stephen Kraft at 4:37.00, the 100 yd free by Jon Herrema at 51.04, the 100 yd back by Tyler Westman at 57.70, and the 500 yd free by Ross Battoclette at 5:05.10.

Calvin will have one more meet before heading off to Puerto Rico for a team cross-cultural trip where the swimmers will get a chance to get out of the United States and experience another country, even getting the chance to do some swimming there.

"We're going to treat it [Puerto Rico] as a cross-cultural experience," Gelderloos said of the upcoming trip, "and it'll be good to get these kids out to another place, somewhere different, which is always a fun thing for me, and it'll definitely be a very busy and action-packed week."

Before that trip, the Knights will host the Calvin Winter Invitational, a two-day event that will see teams from around the MIAA coming to compete. The meet is scheduled for December 3-5.

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CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR NOVEMBER 20, 2009

Men's/Women's Soccer Headed to NCAA III Quarterfinals; Women's Basketball Defeats Marian – Men's Basketball Falls to Grace Bible

MEN'S SOCCER Calvin 2, Carnegie-Mellon 1

PITTSBURGH, PA – The Calvin men's soccer team has advanced to the national quarterfinals of the NCAA III Tournament. The Knights moved on in the NCAA III Tournament with a 2-1 victory over host Carnegie-Mellon late Friday night.

Calvin (17-4-2) will face Transylvania in Saturday's national quarterfinal at 7:00 p.m. (EST). Transylvania advanced to Saturday's quarterfinals by winning a penalty kick shootout over Swarthmore Friday night.

The contest will mark Calvin's second foray into the national quarterfinals as the Knights also achieved the feat in 1980.

Calvin's game against Carnegie-Mellon (16-3-1) featured late-game fireworks in the way of goal scoring.

Calvin broke a scoreless tie with a goal by junior back Kyle Billin (Hudsonville/Unity Christian HS) with just over 15 minutes left in regulation. The play began with a long throw-in by sophomore Tyler Vegter (Hudsonville/Unity Christian HS) that was flicked over to Billin by freshman Chris Nance (Washington, MI/Warren DeLaSalle HS).

Calvin then took what appeared to be a commanding 2-0 lead on a goal by junior Brad Heethuis (Jenison/Unity Christian HS) with 8:57 left in regulation. The Heethuis goal was set up by a rush up the right wing by junior Scott Hooker (Hudsonville/Unity Christian HS) who slid a pass through the goalmouth that Heethuis banged in for his six goals of the season.

The goal by Heethuis would prove to be the winning goal as Carnegie-Mellon struck back just 30 seconds later on a goal by All-American forward Ricky Griffin to slice the deficit in half. Carnegie-Mellon then mounted a final furious charge at the Knights and nearly found the equalizer on a direct kick from 25 yards out with just over a minute to play that was saved by Calvin junior goalkeeper Ryan Bratt (Silver Spring, MD/Washington Christian Academy) with a sprawling save.

The Tartans then collected a corner kick but the corner was headed out of danger by Calvin in the closing seconds, allowing the Knights to pull out the win.

"Wow. What a game," said Calvin men's soccer coach Chris Hughes afterward. "Carnegie-Mellon has a fantastic team. A really wonderful team but our boys were up to the challenge tonight and matched their effort. I thought our defensive backline was tremendous, particularly senior Greg Snapper and junior Lucas Wilgenburg. We also received huge contributions from Kyle Billin and Dan Nederhoed on defense. Nederhoed was just splendid on both ends of the field."

Calvin finished the game with a 12-11 shots at goal advantage. Bratt recorded six saves for Calvin in just his fourth start in goal for the Maroon and Gold.

"Ryan Bratt was just stellar again," said Hughes. "We have all the confidence in the world in him. He stepped up and made a huge save on that direct kick. He played the shot with textbook form."

Calvin will now turn its attention to Transylvania, a squad that upset Ohio Wesleyan 1-0 a week ago and then battled Swarthmore to a 0-0 tie before winning in a penalty kick shootout.

"Tranyslvania is a very dangerous side," said Hughes. "They have a dangerous counterattack and are very strong on defense. We'll have our hands full tomorrow night."

Saturday's national quarterfinal game will begin at 6:00 p.m. (EST) at Carnegie-Mellon with the winner advancing to the NCAA III Final Four in San Antonio, Texas, December 4 & 5.

WOMEN'S SOCCER Calvin 2, Augustana 1 (by Calvin sports information student assistant Andrew Knot)

ROCK ISLAND, IL – For the second time in four years, the Calvin women's soccer team is headed to the national quarterfinals. The Knights defeated host Augustana 2-1 Friday night in a Round of 16 NCAA III Tournament game. Calvin (16-4-1) will face Washington University (MO) which advanced to Saturday's quarterfinal by winning a penalty kick shootout against Wheaton after the game finished in a 0-0 tie.

Saturday's national quarterfinal game will begin at 7:00 p.m. (EST) at Augustana with the winner advancing to the NCAA III Final Four in San Antonio, Texas, December 4 & 5.

Saturday's quarterfinal game will feature the second meeting of the year between Calvin and Washington University with the Bears picking up a 1-0 win at Calvin in mid-September.

After losing in the first round of the MIAA tournament and failing to secure an automatic bid for the NCAA tournament, all seemed lost for the Knights. Calvin's group of seniors which had visited the elite eight in their freshman year saw their season come to a crashing halt. Their tournament dreams rapidly turned to nightmares.

But the best part of a nightmare is waking up. After a week void of practice and filled with frustration, the Knights' got their wake up call. The wake-up call came in the form of a dream tournament bid, a first round draw on their home turf.

But a wake-up call is pointless if unanswered. Calvin answered, in the biggest way. After taking shutting out their first and second round opponents by a collective score of 5-0, Calvin found itself in the sweet sixteen.

Their opponent, Augustana, a one-seed, the fifth ranked team in the country, on its home turf. After going down 1-0 in the 28th minute, Calvin responded with the very thing that had gotten them this far: set pieces.

In the 35th minute, junior Lauren Heyboer (Portage/Kalamazoo Christian HS) took her corner kick success to the right wing in the form of a set piece. She found her favorite target, junior Carly Prins (Hudsonville/Unity Christian HS), who directed a header towards the far post and equalized the score at 1-1.

From this point on, Calvin took total control of the game, controlling possession and creating far more chances than Augustana. With continued pressure, the Knights took a 2-1 off another set piece. In the 64th minute, junior Mindy Capisciolto (Hudsonville/Unity Christian HS) played a short corner kick to junior Elaine Schnabel (Chesterton, IN/Chesterton HS), who hit the far post nylon an a shot from the 18 on the left wing.

With a 2-1 lead, Calvin sealed a 2-1 victory with some outstanding play from the back line. The Knight's defense shut down the Augustana attack and completed a 2-1 victory.

"I knew if we could apply a high degree of pressure we would be able to stay in the game," said Coach Mark Recker.

The victory only furthered the dream tournament run for the Knights.

"[Losing in the MIAA tournament] was a huge wake up call. We are playing with so much more energy, joy, and overall motivation," said senior goalkeeper Kayla Sulzer.

Sulzer is among the senior class who reached the elite eight in their freshmen year.

"It feels great to be back [in the elite eight]. It's a huge blessing," she said.

Goal scorer Elaine Schnabel echoed that sentiment, "We feel blessed that we got an invitation to play in this NCAA tournament and we want to celebrate that gift as long as God allows us to do so."

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL Calvin 68, Marian 50

WILMINGTON, OH – A youthful Calvin women's basketball team upped its season record to 2-0 on the year with a 68-50 victory over Marian College (IN) Friday night at the Wilmington Inn/Damon's Tip-Off Tournament.

Freshman center Carissa Verkaik (Holland/Holland Christian HS) had another big game with 17 points and 13 rebounds, recording her second double-double of the season. Sophomore Courtney Kurncz (St. Johns/St. Johns HS) had 11 points while senior Brook VanEck (Lowell/Lowell HS) had nine points and senior Amber Benthem (McBain/McBain Christian HS) and freshman Allison Wolffis (Muskegon/Muskegon Mona Shores HS) eight points apiece.

Calvin led 38-20 at halftime and outrebounded Marian 41-36.

Calvin will face host Wilmington – a 63-37 first round winner over Rose-Hulman Institute Friday – in the championship game on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.

Saturday's game will be the first meeting between the two teams since a second round NCAA III Tournament game in 2007 won by Calvin 73-67.

Men's Basketball (written by sports information student assistant Derek Neice)

The Calvin men's basketball team opened its 2009-10 season on a losing note, falling to the Tigers of Grace Bible College by a score of 83-68.

Calvin will face Lake Forest in the consolation game on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. while Grace Bible moves on to play Davenport – an 88-73 winner over Lake Forest – in the championship game at 3:00 p.m.

"We're just inexperienced as a group," Calvin coach Kevin Vande Streek said of his teams 0-1 start to the year. "The only way we can get that experience is to come out and play, and unfortunately we played a good team, and they were better than us."

The victory was the first by Grace Bible in 10 tries. Now 7-2, the Tigers are the defending National Christian College Athletic Association champions.

Senior Matt Veltema led the Knights with 19 total points. Junior Brad Schnyders chipped in 13 and seniors Trent Salo and John Mantel both added 8 apiece. Off the bench, freshmen Brian Powell and Tom Snikkers finished with 6 and 5 points respectively, and sophomore Brian Haverdink came in and scored 3 points as well as leading the team with 3 assists.

"I thought in the first half defensively, especially the first ten minutes or so, we were just really poor," Vande Streek said, "and it's frustrating because that's what we really want to hang our hat on."

"One good thing I saw was that when we got down by a bunch we didn't fold," he continued, "but whenever we got close we gave up a lay-up or an uncontested three, and that's everybody's responsibility, mine included."

"We're all in this together and we all need to work to get better," Vande Streek concluded.

The first half saw Grace jump out to an early lead, a lead it would maintain over the entirety of the game. Calvin never led at any point, but did manage to keep it close at points.

Grace started the game on an 18-4 run, with senior Brandon Herlein scoring 12 of those points. Calvin battled back throughout the half, cutting the deficit to 46-41 by the break.

In the second half the Knights put them in the best possible position to make a move for control of the game. They cut the lead to 60-58 at around the 10-minute mark in the half, but then the Tigers pulled away and never looked back, pushing the score to an eventual 83-68 finish.

From the field, Calvin shot 39.3 percent as compared to Grace's 49.3 percent.

"For tomorrow we'll watch some tape and shoot around a bit and point out a few things to the guys," Vande Streek said of the team's mentality moving forward, "so we'll watch and try to learn something from there and put it in to practice tomorrow."

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CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR NOVEMBER 18, 2009 (PART TWO)

Greg Snapper Named ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American in Men's Soccer; Brian Diemer Named Men's/Women's Great Lakes Cross Country Coach of the Year - Nick Kramer Named Men's Regional Athlete of the Year: Women's Swimming and Diving Ranked Fifth In Collegeswimming.com Top 25 Poll - Men Receiving Votes

MEN'S SOCCER

Calvin College senior Greg Snapper has been named an ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American.

A native of Madison, Wisconsin, Snapper has been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America second team in the college division in men's soccer. The college division includes NCAA II and III institutions as well as schools from the NAIA ranks.

The ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America program is voted on by the College Sports Information Director's Association of America (CoSIDA).

A graduate of Madison West High School, Snapper is the Veldhouse is the fourth men's soccer player from Calvin to receive ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America honors, joining Joel Veldhouse (2004), Sam Glass (1997 & 1998) and Will Watts (1997) to have done so.

A four-year starter at sweeperback on defense, Snapper was named the MIAA's Most Valuable Player in 2008 & 2009 while earning a spot on the All-MIAA first team three straight years. As a freshman in 2006, Snapper was named to the All-MIAA second team. Earlier this fall, he was named the MIAA's Defensive Player of the Week for the fifth time in his career. Last year, Snapper was also named to the Great Lakes All-Region second team.

Snapper has led a Calvin defense this fall that has posted 13 shutouts this year and is ranked 22nd nationally in goals-against-average (0.62) and 18th in shutout percentage (.590).

Snapper has also been a part of three MIAA championship teams and three Calvin squads that have reached the NCAA III Tournament. Calvin is currently 16-4-2 overall and headed to the Round of 16 of the NCAA III Tournament. The Knights will take on Carnegie-Mellon (PA) Friday night at 7:30 p.m. in a national semi-quarterfinal game scheduled to be held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

A three-time member of the MIAA Academic Honor Roll and a six-time member of the Calvin Dean's List, Snapper carries a double-major of Spanish and biochemistry while maintaining a 3.75 grade point average.

Calvin has now had its athletes receive ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America accolades 82 times including 51 times in the last 12 years.

MEN'S AND WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY

Calvin College cross country coach Brian Diemer has been named the Division III Great Lakes Regional Men's and Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year. Diemer swept both awards late this afternoon as announced by the United States Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association.

Despite losing five of its top seven runners from a year ago, Diemer led the Calvin men's cross country team to its 23rd consecutive MIAA title and its 14th consecutive Great Lakes Regional title. At the Great Lakes Regional meet, Diemer's team placed five runners in the top 25 led by sophomore Nick Kramer who took first place individually. At the MIAA Championships, Calvin posted a perfect score of 15 points.

Diemer has also had the Calvin women's cross country team on top of the Division III Top 35 polls for the last seven weeks. This fall, Diemer led the Calvin women's cross country team to its fifth consecutive MIAA title and its 21st overall. At the MIAA Championships, Calvin posted a perfect score of 15 points and followed with a first place score of 50 points at the Great Lakes Regional, to win the regional crown for the third-straight year.

In addition, Nick Kramer has been named the Great Lakes Regional Men's Cross Country Athlete of the Year by the USTFCCCA. A native of Dyer, Indiana, Kramer became the ninth individual in Calvin men's cross country history to claim a Great Lakes Regional title this past Saturday, running 25:45, nine seconds better than the next fastest runner.

A graduate of Illiana Christian High School, Kramer also took first place at the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletics Association Jamboree and MIAA Championships this fall, garnering MIAA Most Valuable Runner honors.

Both Calvin cross country teams will compete at the NCAA III Championships this Saturday in Cleveland, Ohio. Baldwin-Wallace College will serve as host. The Calvin women's cross country team will head in ranked number-one while the Calvin men's cross country team will head in ranked 15th.

For more information on the national meet, please visit the Baldwin-Wallace championships site at: - http://www.bw.edu/athletics/09ccnationals/

MEN'S AND WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING

Collegeswimming.com has released its first Division III Top 25 poll of the year and the Calvin women's swimming and diving team is ranked fifth. Under the direction of head coach Dan Gelderloos, the Knights are currently 2-1 in dual meet competition. Meanwhile the Calvin men's swimming and diving team which is 1-2 in dual meet competition is receiving votes in the men's poll but is not in the top 25. The MIAA includes three men's teams in the top 25 with Kalamazoo ranked fifth, Hope 18th and Olivet 22nd.

The complete poll can be found on-line at: http://collegeswimming.com/news/2009/nov/17/kenyon-leads-division-iii-poll/

Both Calvin teams return to action on Saturday when they host Division II Wayne State University at the Venema Aquatic Center at 1:00 p.m. A year ago, both Wayne State teams earned national runner-up finishes at the NCAA II Championships.

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CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR November 18, 2009

Rebecca Kamp & Kelsey Sears Named AVCA Division III All-Americans; Allison Boender Named ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American in Women's Soccer;

VOLLEYBALL

Two members of the Calvin women's volleyball team have been named Division III All-Americans by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. Sophomore middle-hitter Rebecca Kamp has been named a first team All-American while senior libero Kelsey Sears has been named a third team All-American.

A native of Orland Park, Illinois, Kamp is receiving first team All-America honors for the second straight year. A graduate of Chicago Christian High School, Kamp was a two-time MIAA Player of the Week, a first team All-MIAA selection and a Great Lakes All-Region choice this fall. She was also named to all-tournament teams at invitationals hosted by Ohio Northern, Wittenberg and Elmhurst. In addition, she was named to all-regional tournament team this past weekend at an NCAA III Regional hosted by Hope College

On the year, Kamp compiled a .337 hitting percentage while averaging 4.14 kills, 1.91 digs and 1.22 blocks-per-set. She also record 50 service aces for an average of 0.42 service aces-per-set. In the most recent set of NCAA III statistics, she was ranked 17th nationally in blocks-per-set, 18th in kills-per-set and 35th in hitting percentage.

Sears is receiving All-America accolades for the first time. She is a native of Traverse City and a graduate of Traverse City West High School. A two-year starter at libero for the Knights, Sears was a two-time MIAA Specialty Player of the Week this fall and was named to the All-MIAA first team for the second straight year. She was also named to all-tournament teams at invitationals hosted by Ohio Northern and Wittenberg. Last week, she was named to the Great Lakes All-Region team. Over the course of the season, Sears compiled 581 digs in 118 sets for an average of 4.92 digs-per-set. She also recorded 34 service aces.

In addition, freshman middle-hitter Lizzie Kamp has received honorable mention All-America recognition. Also a native of Orland Park, Illinois, Lizzie Kamp was named the Great Lakes Regional Freshman of the Year and landed a spot on the Great Lakes All-Region team. She finished the year with a hitting percentage of 2.76 and an average of 2.56 kills-per-set.

As a team, Calvin finished the 2009 season with an overall record of 28-7 which included an MIAA Tournament title and a trip to the NCAA III Tournament with the Knights reaching the second round before bowing to Hope last Friday night.

CALVIN COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL ALL-AMERICANS

1985 Julie Dykstra 1986 Julie Dykstra, Leah Calsbeek, Roxanne Helmus 1997 Erika Van Stralen 1999 Rhonda Volkers 2006 Kristen Kalb & Molly Krikke 2007 Molly Krikke & Katie Zondervan 2008 Rebecca Kamp 2009 Kelsey Sears & Rebecca Kamp

WOMEN'S SOCCER

Calvin College senior Allison Boender has been named an ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American in women's soccer. The ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American teams are voted on by the College Sports Information Director's Associatin of America (CoSIDA).

A native of Grandville and a graduate of Grandville Calvin Christian High School, Boender has been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America third team in women's soccer in the college division. The college division includes NCAA II and III schools as well as NAIA institutions.

A three-year starter on the defensive backline for Calvin, Boender is the first Academic All-American in women's soccer at Calvin since Cara Jansen, also a defender, received the award in both 1998 and 1999.

This fall, Boender was named to the All-MIAA first team for the second straight year as she was part of a Calvin defense that allowed only three goals against MIAA competition. She has also been a key component of a Calvin defense that has allowed only nine goals all year and is ranked 15th nationally in goals-against-average (0.494) and 19th in shutout percentage (.667) as the Knights have 13 shutouts this fall. She has also scored one goal, despite playing on the defensive backline.

Boender is part of a Calvin women's soccer team that captured the 2009 MIAA title and is currently 15-4-1 overall and still alive in the NCAA III Tournament as the Knights are scheduled to compete in a national semi-quarterfinal game at Augustana College (IL) this weekend.

In the classroom, Boender carries a 3.90 grade point average while majoring in nursing. She is a three-time member of the MIAA Academic Honor Roll and a six-time member of the Calvin Dean's List.

Calvin has now had its athletes receive ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America accolades 81 times including 50 times in the last 12 years.

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CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR NOV. 17, 2009

Women's Basketball Opens Season With Double-Digit Win Over Cornerstone

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL Calvin 69, Cornerstone 50 (written by Calvin sports information student assistant Derek Niece)

GRAND RAPIDS - Basketball has made its comeback here at Calvin as the weather turns colder around campus. Last week the men opened their season with a home exhibition game against Division II team Ferris State University, and the women initiated regular season play Tuesday night against East Beltline rival Cornerstone University. In that game the Knights would initiate strong defense and shoot very well from the floor as they rolled to a comfortable 69-50 win over the Golden Eagles.

Both teams struggled in the opening minutes to put points on the board, with Calvin not scoring until almost four minutes into the half when sophomore guard Courtney Kurncz made two consecutive shots from the free throw line to cut a Cornerstone lead to 6-2. From there the Knights took advantage of a couple of big first half scoring runs to take complete control of the game.

"We know this is going to be a roller-coaster type year with so many freshmen and a lot of players with not very much experience," said Coach John Ross after the game, "but we have really good leaders and the team gets along really really well, and I think that will make up for a lot of things."

"I was happy with a lot of performances tonight," Ross continued, "Carissa [Verkaik] put up a real good performance, and Kelsey [Irwin] threw in a little shocker with a couple of big threes in her first game, so that was good to see."

The first big run came with around ten minutes to play in the first half and Cornerstone sitting on a slim 12-11 lead. Calvin's offense and defense exploded simultaneously, and the Knights scored twelve straight points to take a ten point lead at 22-12.

In the ensuing minutes Cornerstone managed to claw its way back into the game, closing the gap to 26-21. Calvin responded to that counterattack by going on another huge run, a 14-0 clinic that put the Knights ahead by an immense 19 points. The first half would end with a 41-25 Calvin lead.

At the break Calvin as a team was shooting 55 percent, making 16 of 29 shots. The Knights were led in scoring by Kurncz and freshman forward Carissa Verkaik, who both had 10 points. Along with her point total, Kurncz amassed three blocks and a steal in the first frame. Verkaik was perfect from the floor, hitting on five shot attempts in the paint. She also led the team with four rebounds in the first half.

Cornerstone shot 33 percent in the first half and was led in scoring by sophomore guard Robyn Veltkamp, who also had 10 points.

As the second half started, both teams again struggled to get anything going offensively, and the game went fairly back and forth for most of the first ten minutes of the half. Cornerstone would creep back into the game after that, cutting the deficit to a ten point 51-41 Calvin lead. The Knights then went on a few mini scoring runs and upped the score to 60-44. From then on, they controlled the game on both sides of the ball and closed things out, winning by nineteen points.

Verkaik finished her first ever game as a Knight, and a good one at that, with a double-double. She scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, leading Calvin in both of those categories.

Jill Thomas came off the bench for the Knights and scored 12 points, scoring on all four three point attempts she attempted. Kurncz finished with 10 points and also grabbed five boards, blocked four shots, and dished out four assists. Post player Brooke Van Eck also finished with 10 points six rebounds and three steals.

"We can only take one game at a time," Ross said of the team's next step of the season. "We've got a tough Marian team this Friday and that game won't be easy. We'll have to be ready to play."

Calvin is back in action on November 20th when they travel to Ohio to play Marian University in the Wilmington Tournament, hosted by Wilmington College.