The fifth-ranked Calvin women's volleyball team averted an upset at VanNoord Arena Tuesday night, claiming a 25-16, 21-25, 22-25, 25-15, 15-8 victory over the visiting Adrian Bulldogs.

Calvin had to overcome adversity to win the match as the Knights were without the services of All-American outside hitter Maggie Kamp (Orland Park, IL/Chicago Christian HS) for nearly the entire match.

Despite her absence, Calvin (14-3 overall, 8-0 MIAA) hit at a .519 clip in claiming a fairly comfortable set one one.

Adrian (9-8 overall, 4-4 MIAA) stiffened defensively in the second set, limiting Calvin to a .094 hitting percentage. The Bulldogs also rallied from a 21-18 second set deficit to score seven unanswered points capped off by a service ace by Sydney Martines.

With momentum on its side, Adrian took a 16-13 lead in set three with a 6-0 run and never gave the lead back. Calvin closed to within a point at 22-21 and 23-22 but could not tie the score or take the lead.

With their backs to the wall, the Knights responded with an extra surge of energy to claim a 25-15 set four win. The Knights were particularly strong in the back row, digging up 17 balls. Calvin was led in set four by freshmen tandem of Keilahna Castillo (Grandville/Grandville HS) and Rachel Hererra (Schereville, Ind.) as Castillo collected five digs in the set while Hererra had four. Sophomore Tessa VanLaare (Toronto, Ont./Toronto District Christian HS) and freshman Anna Kamp (Orland Park, IL/Chicago Christian HS) also came alive on offense with five kills apiece in the set

In set five, junior Laura Danhoff (Willard, Oh./Willard HS) got loose in the middle for Calvin with four kills.  The Knights build an 8-5 lead on a kill by VanLaare and then picked up a couple of key kills from Danhoff to close out the set and the match.

"Tonight we faced a bit of adversity for the first time in awhile and it took our team some time to adjust," said Calvin women's volleyball coach Amber Warners. "This could have turned out much differently. Adrian is a well-coached and much-improved team and they pushed us to the limit while we were learning to play without Maggie. To the credit of our team, our players reached down and fought back. For our younger players, this match was a very positive growing experience. It feels good to come back for a win."

Anna Kamp and VanLaare both amassed career-highs in kills with Kamp collecting a match-high 18 kills while VanLaare had 14. Danhoff had 12 kills while senior Rachel Lubben (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) also had a career-high in kills with 11. Sophomore Alyssa Scholten (Byron Center/Covenant Christian HS) also had a career-high with eight kills.

Sophomore setter Jenna Lodewyk (Villa Park, IL/Timothy Christian HS) had a career-high 58 assists to go with eight digs and seven kills.

Sophomore Emily Blankespoor (Grand Rapids/South Christian HS) came up big off the bench with 13 digs and five service aces. Blankespor had two aces in the fourth set and one in the fifth set.

Cassadine Reed led Adrian with 12 kills while Olivia Welch had 11 kills and Jordan Brisson 10 kills.

Calvin is back in action on Friday when it hosts Saint Mary's at 7 p.m.