DE PERE, Wis. - The Calvin University men's volleyball team dropped a pair of matches against strong competition on Saturday at St. Norbert.
Calvin (2-7) lost the opener against St. Norbert (8-5) in four sets (17-25, 25-15, 25-20, 25-21) before falling in the second match to fifth-ranked Cal Lutheran (12-4) in three sets (25-18, 25-20, 25-15).
St. Norbert 3, Calvin 1
The Knights started strong, but could not hold off the Green Knights of St. Norbert in a four-set defeat to start the day.
Calvin took the opening set 25-21 with the help of a big run in the middle of set. After building a 16-14 lead, the Knights scored five straight points to help them put away St. Norbert and take a 1-0 overall lead.
The Green Knights responded by scoring the first five points of the next set on the way to evening the match at 1-1 with a 25-15 set-two win.
After a strong Calvin start to the third set, the Green Knights scored five straight points to turn a three-point deficit into a two-point lead and never looked back as they took a 2-1 overall lead.
Calvin once again started strong in the fourth set, but a pair of 4-0 runs by St. Norbert propelled the Green Knights to a 3-1 overall win.
Nick Bultje (Byron Center, Mich./South Christian) and
Gabriel Laughlin (Grand Rapids, Mich./West Michigan Aviation Academy) led Calvin with 13 kills apiece, while
Cameron Dogger (Holland, Mich./Zion Christian) led the Knights with 39 assists to go with eight digs.
Cal Lutheran 3, Calvin 0
Calvin battled the fifth-ranked Kingsmen from Cal Lutheran in the second match of the day in a three-set defeat.
The match started out well for Calvin as it took the early lead, but the Kingsmen took control near the midway point of the opening set to win 25-18 and lead 1-0 overall.
Cal Lutheran built an early lead in the second set, but the young Knights fought back and cut the deficit to 20-18 on a kill from
Arie Padmos (Martinez, Calif./Contra Costa Christian). The Kingsmen were up to the task late, however, and held off the Knights to win the set 25-20 before winning the third game to secure the win.
Aren Eisses (Utopia, Onterio/Unity Christian) led Calvin with five kills in the match. Padmos finished with two service aces and eight digs to go with three blocks and four kills.
COACH'S COMMENT: "I thought we showed a lot of promise today when we were able to win the serve and receive game," Calvin head men's volleyball coach Spncer Fredrick said. "It was good for us to face this kind of competition early in the season, and we look forward to getting back together for practice to learn and grow from our experiences today."
NEXT UP: Calvin men's volleyball returns to action next week when it travels to Judson University for a two-day tournament. The Knights will face Indiana Tech and Midway on Friday, February 23, before facing Judson and Roosevelt on Saturday, February 24.
