WBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletics Association

[Bushop]

Calvin Women's Basketball roster

new comers?

04   Rachael Willett       Jr.   6-1   F       Rockford/Rockford
10   Allison Griswold      Fr.   5-5   G       Webberville/Lansing Christian
20   Marissa Walker      So.   5-7   G       Cedar Springs/Cedar Springs
23   Kelly Bennett          Fr.   5-4   G       Williamston/Williamston
24   Nikki Zimmerman   Jr.   5-6   G       Traverse City/Traverse City West
30   Brook VanEck         Fr.   5-9   F       Lowell/Lowell

Looks like Willett and Zimmerman transferred from Grand Valley State and Walker's the only player from last season's JV team.

[Dark Knight]

Calvin Women's Basketball roster

new comers?

04   Rachael Willett     Jr.   6-1   F       Rockford/Rockford
10   Allison Griswold    Fr.   5-5   G       Webberville/Lansing Christian
20   Marissa Walker      So.   5-7   G       Cedar Springs/Cedar Springs
23   Kelly Bennett       Fr.   5-4   G       Williamston/Williamston
24   Nikki Zimmerman     Jr.   5-6   G       Traverse City/Traverse City West
30   Brook VanEck        Fr.   5-9   F       Lowell/Lowell

Looks like Willett and Zimmerman transferred from Grand Valley State and Walker's the only player from last season's JV team.

I found bios at GVSU's web site for Rachel Willett and Nikki Zimmerman.

A pair of D-II transfers sounds promising. GVSU has a preseason #2 ranking in D-II. Sad to see that Willett lost an inch of height in the transfer. 

[Oval]

So is this the unofficial MIAA volleyball board?

Calvin d. Baldwin-Wallace 30-26, 30-25, 30-16

The nationally-ranked Calvin women's volleyball team extended its win streak to 18 matches with a pair of victories Friday night at the Midwest Classic. Ranked 13th in the latest Division III Coaches' poll, Calvin upped its season record to 27-1 with victories over Kalamazoo and Baldwin-Wallace Friday night.

The match against Baldwin-Wallace featured a meeting of nationally-ranked and regionally-ranked teams as the Yellow Jackets came into the match ranked 19th nationally and number-two in the Great Lakes Region. Calvin came into the match ranked number-one in the Great Lakes Region. The Knights are now 4-1 against nationally-ranked teams this year.

[WLCALUM83]

Just thought I'd give props to Tri-State's women's volleyball team--the Thunder women won the most in-MIAA matches this year since they joined. (Between that success and the FB team's upset win over Olivet, it's been a good athletic week for Angola, IN.)

[Dark Knight]

I'm afraid this really has become a volleyball board   

Calvin looked really dominant over Bald Wally, especially in that third game when the knights spotted B-W a 5-1 lead and then went on to win 30-16. Calvin's hitting, blocking, digging were all head and shoulders above BW's. Sometimes literally.

The only match Calvin has lost this year was one in which their starting setter, Katie Zondervan, was injured and only played part of the match. Zondervan leads the nation in assists per game, with 14.28, according to the NCAA stats page.

[Bushop]

2006-07 MIAA Women's Basketball Composite Schedule

[Oval]

Friday
Calvin d. Kalamazoo 30-23, 30-24, 30-23
Hope d. Alma 25-30, 30-22, 30-12, 31-29

Saturday
Hope d. Kalamazoo 30-18, 30-17, 30-19
Calvin d. Alma 22-30, 30-22, 30-25, 30-14
Adrian d. Saint Mary's 30-22, 30-28, 26-30, 30-32, 15-13

That wraps-up the MIAA regular season title for Calvin .... their first since 1999.

Saturday's non-MIAA games:
Hope d. Baldwin-Wallace 30-15, 28-30, 30-27, 30-27
Calvin d. Muskingum 30-17, 30-21, 30-17
Alma d. Wheaton 30-25, 33-31, 30-28
Hanover d. Kalamazoo 30-16, 30-15, 30-18

[hawk'ster]

Calvin was 45 and 4 in the MIAA.  The MIAA web site also lists attendence at each match.

The Calvin/Hope matches were watched by 512 (Sep 19 at Calvin) and 700 (Oct 13 at Hope).

2006 MIAA volleyball matches with 200+ attendence:
700 .... Calvin at Hope
512 .... Hope at Calvin
450 .... St Marys at Hope
425 .... Alma at Hope
300 .... Kazoo at Adrian 
300 .... Tri-State at Hope
217 .... Calvin at Alma
205 .... Adrian at Calvin 
200 .... Albion at Hope
200 .... Hope at Adrian
200 .... Olivet at Adrian 

[Dark Knight]

The knights' 2006-07 season preview is up.

Even though the knights had only one senior last year, they have only three returning starters. What became of Charis Larson?

With the added experience, new players, and two GVSU transfers, it sounds as though this team should be at least as strong as last year's team.

[Bushop]

Results

MIAA Volleyball Tournament

Monday
Play-in Match - Albion d. Olivet 30-22, 30-21, 30-14

Tuesday
Calvin d. Albion 30-23, 30-11, 30-17
Hope d. Kalamazoo 30-21, 30-21, 30-19
Adrian d. Tri-State 30-16, 30-21, 30-24
Saint Mary's d. Alma 26-30, 22-30, 30-23, 30-28, 15-11

[Bushop]

Upcoming Games

MIAA Volleyball Tournament

Friday -- Semifinals at Calvin College
Adrian vs. Hope
Calvin vs. Saint Mary's

Saturday -- Finals at Calvin College
at Calvin regardless of Friday's winner

[Preto]

USA TODAY ESPN DIVISION III TOP 25 COACHES' POLL

02. Hope College (Mich.)
15. Calvin College (Mich.)

[Flying Dutch Fan]

D3hoops preseason poll has Hope 4th, and Calvin 13th.  Interesting that Hope had 7 first place votes, and the teams at 2 & 3 have a combined total of 3.  Obviously the voters have quite a difference of opinion on Hope.

A couple of good tests early for Hope, with a potential game against #9 Bald Wally on November 18 at the DeVos, and a game with #5 Wheaton on December 1 at Wheaton.  Wheaton was the only team to defeat the Dutch last year, so that should be a barn burner.

[oldknight]

If I may interrupt this volleyball board ( ) with a basketball announcement: The 2006-07 MIAA Coaches' Poll is up and to no one's surprise Hope is first and Calvin second. I was surprised to see that the Lady Knights did get 2 first place votes. Now, this board may return to its regularly scheduled volleyball programing. 

[knightrider]

I'm surprised with the rankings also, but I thought that people would look at the Calvin/ Hope matchup to be closer than what they have ranked it if not give Calvin the advantage.  Here is why.  Hope lost a lot of talent and leadership when the lost both Ebels at last years end.  Bria is the biggest loss seeing that Hope has a lot of talent at the post position, but I don't think Hope has a fill in for Bria, just like Calvin didn't have a fill in for Kristen McDonald after she left.  Calvin though is returning three starters- one being the all-american Lisa Winkle.  Combine her with a much improved Marcia Harris and a more experienced back court, the knights are quite threatening.  Plus with the GVSU transfers, one who will up the experience and bring a much needed quality sub in the post, and a guard who brings the shooting ability that haunted the knights last year.  I think this is the biggest key to the new Knights.  Last year teams could sit back and play a zone, which shuts down the paint and forces the outside shot, because the knights didn't have the shooters to shoot them out of the zone.  This year though, with the transfer and more experience in those freshmen from last year, it won't be as easy to just play zone against the knights.  I think that if the knights can gel as a team, you could see them filling hopes national champions shoes this year.  At least this is my take on the situation. 

In regards to Charis Larson, from what I have heard she just didn't work hard enough in the off season to keep her spot.  She has plenty of competition this year for that spot, and with her lack of effort to improve, got past over for someone who is working to improve and is showing that they want to play.  I heard it was a tough situation, but Coach Ross knew that he had to cut some people from last years team to improve the teams talent and how well they play as a team.  Charis was just one of the players that didn't pan out as planned.  And if you look back to last season and how much she produced, it wasn't very much.  And if you compare her sophemore season to her freshmen season, with the obvious understanding that with experience comes improvement, she actually declined in production.  Also, her defense, which was something that gained her time in her freshmen year, declined last year, which doesn't help matters.  So that is why from what I've heard Charis is no longer on the team.

But heres to another fun season, and I look forward to seeing how it pans out.  GO KNIGHTS!