Calvin volleyball battled for two big wins at Midwest Invitational over #14 Ohio Northern in five sets (25-22,18-25, 25-23, 25-23, 15-11) and over #2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (20-25, 25-20, 26-24, 25-22) in four sets on Friday evening. 

With these two wins, Head Coach Dr. Amber Warners reached a massive milestone of 600 wins on her remarkable career. Now in her 21^st season as a collegiate head coach, Warners now holds a career record of 600-93. 

Ohio Northern
Calvin 3, Ohio Northern 2 

In the first of two matches on Friday evening the Knights of Calvin faced off against the Polar Bears of Ohio Northern. The Knights were the ones who gained an early lead in the first set. After a hard kill by Kelsey Smith (Vienna, VA / Madison) to the get the Knights on a roll. Ohio Northern was hanging around most of the match as the Polar Bears slowly cut into the deficit.

The Polar Bears tied the set at 15-15 midway through and made it close the remainder of the set. A kill by Gabriella Kellogg (Belleville, MI / Plymouth Christian Academy) gave the Knights a slight advantage late with a score of 19-17. Calvin hung onto its lead the rest of the set and it was finished off with an ace by Heidi Westra (Clarendon Hills, Il. / Timothy Christian) to take the first set 25-22. 

The Knights found themselves down early in the second set with a score of 9-7. Calvin battled back into the game after a kill by Westra to make it 14-12. Ohio Northern retook the lead however and managed to extend the lead to 18-15. The Knights couldn't find a rhythm in the set and lost it 25-18 to tie the match up at 1-1. 

The third set was a close back and forth battle, but a kill by Gabriella Kellogg gave Calvin a 11-10 lead early. The Polar Bears slowly edged their way to lead later in the third set with a score of 20-16 in the close contested set. Calvin cut the deficit down to one with a score of 24-23, but Ohio Northern was able to win the set 25-23 and lead the match 2-1. 

Ohio Northern used its momentum from the third set to gain an early 10-5 lead in the fourth set. The Knights were struggling to get anything going in their favor in the fourth set as they found themselves trailing 18-13 midway through. Calvin turned it around to battle back into the game to tie it up at 20-20 after a kill by Westra. The Knights had a hard-fought battle to come from behind and take the fifth set 25-23 after another kill by Westra.  

Calvin used its big comeback in the fourth to kick-start the fifth set. A big service ace by Gabriella Kellogg gave the Knights the early 4-1 lead to begin the set. Ohio Northern started to bring the energy and tied the fifth set at 7-7. The Knights got things clicking as they took an 11-9 advantage. Calvin held on to its lead the rest of the way and won 15-11 to improve to 22-2 on the year. 

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Calvin 3, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 1

In the second match of the day, Calvin played against the No. 2 team in the nation - Claremont-Mudd-Scripps where the first set was tied 8-8 early. It became a close contest as the Athenas held a slight lead over the Knights with a score of 15-12. 

Claremont-MS continued to build on its lead through the first set. The Knights tried to fight back into it after a nice kill by Kelsey Smith to make it a 23-19 score. However, The Athenas held strong with their lead and took the first set 25-20. 

Calvin came into the second set with some energy to grab an early 8-6 lead over Claremont-MS. Kelsey Smith had another great kill to extend the lead for the Knights to 15-12 midway through the second set. The Knights were holding onto their lead over the Athenas and after a nice block by Vanessa Martinez (Hudsonville, MI / Wyoming) and Gabriella Kellogg they led 21-18. It didn't take long for Calvin to take the set 25-20 with a big block by Smith and Madelyn Hall (Hudsonville, MI / Hudsonville). 

In the third set the Knights gained an early lead of 6-1 after two kills by Smith. Calvin was coming out aggressive with its attacking in the set. A great solo block from Hall extended the lead in the third set to 13-5. A kill by Vanessa Martinez kept the momentum going in Calvin's favor as it took a 17-9 lead. 

Claremont-MS was slowly climbing its way back into the set. Gabriella Kellogg had a hard-hitting kill to give the Knights a 22-18 lead. The Athenas weren't backing down as they tied the game at 23-23. Calvin held in the end though to take the set 25-23 after an attacking error by Claremont-MS to take a 2-1 match lead. 

The fourth set of the match was a close one from the start. The Knights gained a slight lead in the beginning of the set after a kill by Gabriella Kellogg with a score of 10-9. Calvin slowly started to extend its lead over Claremont-MS. A great placement kill by Gabriella Kellogg gave the Knights a 16-12 lead. 

The set was starting to swing in favor of the Knights, but the Athenas weren't going away without a fight. The Knights were getting closer to the win and a kill by Vanessa Martinez gave them a 21-19 lead in the fourth set. Calvin never gave up the lead and held on to win the fourth set 25-22 to hand Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (21-1) its first loss of the season. 

The Knights improve to 23-2 overall on the season. 

COACHES COMMENTS: "I thought we came out a little flat after a weekend off to open the day" said Head Coach Dr. Amber Warners. "I loved how they fought back in the first match against a good Ohio Northern team. I'm also really proud of their fight tonight against a really good CMS (Claremont-Mudd-Scripps) team. We showed a lot of heart and courage and never gave up while putting the pressure on the whole time which I was really happy with." 

UP NEXT: The Knights will play Millikin in their final game of the Midwest Invitational at Van Noord Arena at 11am on October 23, 2021.