Great Lakes region volleyball

[Happy Calvin Guy]

Yesterday's Calvin-Hope volleyball match was seen by 2212 people -- tied for 11th largest attendance in the history of DIII volleyball. Curiously, the match this one tied was a November 6, 2010 match between...Calvin and Hope.

Calvin shows up in four of the top 10, usually with Hope. The third largest attendance ever was 3,275 when UC San Diego played with Calvin here in Grand Rapids for the DIII NCAA final, when now-coach Amber Warners was playing.

I'd be curious how exactly they take attendance at volleyball games since it is not a ticketed event.  It seems fishy that Calvin is reporting the exact same # as last year's game.  Usually (i.e. non Hope games) it seems like they simply report an estimate. 

Either way, it's awesome to get a great crowd for volleyball.  This is a special Calvin squad and they are very fun to watch this year.  The student section has been more full for volleyball this year than for some men's basketball games in recent years.  Go Knights!

[sflzman]

I know this is really late, but Alma actually received two votes in the last d3 volleyball poll

[sflzman]

And right after I posted that I realized that a poll came out today, and Hope slipped to 14 and Alma recieved no votes.

[KnightSlappy]

The Calvin Knights are now 11-0 in the MIAA (19-0 overall). Haven't dropped a set in conference play yet, they're 33-0 (57-6 in sets overall).

[Dark Knight]

With Wash U's recent loss to Emory, it looks as though Calvin may be the only undefeated volleyball team remaining in DIII, with only MIAA games remaining before the NCAA tournament.

Here's Massey's latest ranking of volleyball teams:
1. Calvin
2. Wash U
3. Emory
4. Wittenberg
5. Heidelberg
6. Carthage
...
11. Otterbein
12. Hope
13. Elmhurst

[WLCALUM83]

Final:  Calvin over Trine at home in 3:
             (25-13, 25-13, 28-13-?)

[KnightSlappy]

Final:  Calvin over Trine at home in 3:
             (25-13, 25-13, 28-13-?)

25-13, 25-13, 25-15 according to the Calvin athletic site. Calvin has yet to drop a set in conference play, now 42-0 this season.

[goodknight]

Calvin comes back to defeat Hope 3-1 in Holland after dropping the first set. Over 2,000 in the house.

[KnightSlappy]

Kenneth Massey's ratings has Calvin as the 170th best college volleyball team in the nation (before the win against Hope). For some context, there are 327 Division I teams. Here are some of Calvin's neighbors in the rankings:

168. Indiana -- DI
169. Pittsburgh -- DI
170. Calvin
171. Towson -- DI
172. Army -- DI

Looks like 145 D1, 22 D2, and 3 NAIA teams are ranked ahead of the Knights. Not bad.

[WLCALUM83]

Joining HCAC final in-progress:

Rose Hulman ahead of Bluffton 2/3 into 1st set:

[WLCALUM83]

Rose-Hulman takes Bluffton in 3

[KnightSlappy]

Calvin will host a Thurs-Sat regional:

Heidelberg
Geneva
--
Rose-Hulman
Wittenberg
--
Otterbein
Hope
--
Calvin
St. Norbert

Calvin played Hope (3x), Heidelberg, Otterbein, and Wittenberg in the regular season with a 6-0 record (taking 18 out of 23 sets).

[WLCALUM83]

Not to knock St. Norbert, but for the second year in a row the entrant from the Midwest Conference gets the toughest draw in their region. (Last year, if memory serves correct, MWC champ Beloit ended up playing Wash-MO).

Otterbein/Hope (at least on paper) looks like the match most likely to go 5 imho.

[OshDude]

The Calvin and Concordia-Moorhead Regional Guides are up, if that's something that interests you.

[sflzman]

Wittenberg stuns Calvin 3-1 in the Regional final yesterday!