GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Calvin University women's volleyball team survived a back-and-forth battle with Carthage College with a strong finish in a five-set win by the scores of 25-23, 22-25, 26-24, 16-25, 15-4 on Friday night at Van Noord Arena on day one of the Calvin Midwest Invite.
 
Both teams made big runs throughout the match, overcoming significant deficits to keep the match alive while battling through mistakes in serve receive and on the attack.
 
Calvin (14-3) looked to be in trouble to start the match as Carthage (14-8) held a late 23-19 lead, but the Knights roared back with six unanswered points to close the set, the last five of which came on the serve of Lina Kasuboski (Racine, Wis./Union Grove) as Emma Ekblaw (Chesterton, Ind./Chesterton) capped the comeback with the winning kill.
 
The second set featured several big swings in momentum as the Firebirds held an early 12-8 lead, but Calvin responded with a 10-0 run to take an 18-12 lead into the later stages of the set. Carthage responded with a run of its own, however, and closed the set on a 13-4 run to tie the match at 1-1.
 
The Knights were in control for much of the third set and led 22-18 before the Firebirds scored six of the next seven points to take a 24-23 lead with a chance to serve out the set. The Knights once again found the answer, however, with help from kills by Caralee Schipper (Mount Brydges, Ontario/Strathroy District Collegiate Institute) and Aerin Baker (Saugatuck, Mich./Saugatuck) to stay in the set before winning 26-24 to take a 2-1 lead overall.
 
Carthage would not go away without a fight and wrestled control of the fourth set midway through and finished on a 7-2 run to win 25-16 and force a fifth and deciding game.
 
The Knights would own the fifth and final set, however, as they built off an early 6-3 lead with eight straight points while hitting a blistering .692 with nine kills and zero attack errors on the way to a 15-4 set win to take home the match.
 
Calvin received contributions from a number of different sources on the attack, with freshmen Sarah Bradley (Clarkston, Mich./Everest Collegiate) and Schipper finishing with 16 and 11 kills, respectively. Schipper was particularly strong early in the match with all 11 of her kills coming in the first three sets. Bradly came up big late with three kills in the fifth set.
 
Ekblaw and Baker each finished with eight kills. Mary Boa (Atlanta, Ga./Riverwood International Center) added six kills and six blocks.
 
Grace Spoelma (Caledonia, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) and Delaney Kemp (Frisco, Texas/Frisco Centennial) each recorded double-doubles on the night. Spoelma finished with 20 assists and 11 digs. Kemp recorded 14 assists and 10 digs.
 
COACH'S COMMENT: "We had many times where we played really good points, and many times we played really poor points," head coach Dr. Amber Warners said. "I think the big takeaway for the team from me is, when you're maybe not doing as well personally, try to focus in on the group to help you work yourself out of it. And I thought in the fifth set, we really did that well."
 
NEXT UP: Calvin women's volleyball returns to action tomorrow (Saturday, October 11) for day two of the Calvin Midwest Invitational when it hosts University of Mount Union at 1:00 PM and Wheaton College at 3:30 PM in Van Noord Arena.