ALBION – Calvin picked up its first victory over Albion since 2010 and did so in dramatic fashion Wednesday evening, defeating the Britons 5-4.
Calvin claimed two of the three doubles points, saving a match point in one of the victories, and then pulled out a win in the final singles match of the evening to claim the one-point victory.
Calvin improves to 7-6 overall and to 2-1 in the MIAA with the triumph.
"This was a match we were pointing towards," said Calvin head women's tennis coach Kevin VanHaitsma. "Our goal is to gain one of the top four spots to get in the league tournament. In order to get to that goal, we knew that we had to go through Albion."
Both teams claimed quick doubles points with Albion winning 8-1 at one doubles while Calvin's duo of freshman Kari Kroeze and sophomore Liz Turner won 8-3 at three doubles. The crucial match came at two doubles however as sophomore Ellie Benzel and freshman Jessica Bouma pulled out a thrilling 9-8 win, fighting off a match point to stay alive and eventually claim victory. That doubles point gave Calvin a 2-1 led heading into singles play.
Doubles play took place outdoors but with darkness and windy weather approaching, singles play was moved indoors to Albion's Ungrodt Tennis Center.
Albion claimed victories at one, two and three singles with the second flight going to a third set tiebreaker.
Calvin came up with a 6-3, 6-0 win by Bouma at four singles and senior Ali Roode was a 6-0, 6-3 winner at five singles.
With the score tied 4-4, the match came down to Kroeze at six singles facing up against Albion's Jessica Scott. Kroeze delivered, winning 7-5, 6-1 to give the Knights the thrilling win.
"Getting the two doubles points was huge," said VanHaitsma. "Anytime you have a close match, it's difficult to win on singles alone and our doubles play proved to be a key in this match. I'm extremely proud of this team. Our players battled from start-to-finish and continued to root on their teammates. It was a very satisfying team win."
Calvin will now prepare for another key conference match as the Knights journey to Saint Mary's on Saturday for a 1 p.m. conference tilt.
