Calvin Drops Hiram In Three Straight Games

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Calvin Knights brought their A game to the 2005 NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional Tournament and the end result of Thursday's quarterfinal match against the Hiram Terriers was a 3-0 sweep.

After a relatively slow start, Calvin started hitting on all cylinders by the middle of the first game and the Knights were the dominant team from that point. Calvin, champions of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association, improved to 29-8 on the season. Hiram, regular season champions of the North Coast Athletic Conference, bowed out of the tourney with a 28-5 overall record. It was the Terriers' first appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament and the first national tournament berth for any Hiram program in 10 years.

Calvin was paced on the offensive end by Christine Hendricks, who pounded 17 kills in 42 attempts without committing an attack error, resulting in a solid .405 percentage. Hendricks was also one of four Knights players to reach double figures in digs in the match, finishing with 13. The team's leader in that category was libero Lauren DeGroot, who finished with 20.

Calvin held an 11-3 advantage in block points, a key statistic. Molly Krikke was credited with eight block assists to lead the Knights in that area. Also of note was the play of setter Katie Zondervan, who finished with 41 assists.

Hiram, which had defeated Calvin 3-0 on the same court during the Border Battle hosted by Wittenberg in September, was led offensively by Shana Toth, the NCAC Player of the Year who finished with 13 kills. Defensively, Hiram was paced by Jennifer Hlebovy with a match-high 28 digs, while libero Jill Howard added 21 digs. Setter Megan Taylor finished with 31 assists in the match

Calvin advances to the regional semifinals with the win. The Knights will face the winner of tonight's Millikin vs. Capital quarterfinal match.

2005 NCAA Great Lakes Regional Tournament Home Page