GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Calvin University women's volleyball team made the most of its home opener on Friday night with a 3-0 sweep of Cornell College to start the Calvin Invite at Van Noord Arena.
The Knights won the match by the scores of 25-21, 25-14 and 25-20.
Calvin (8-2) went back and forth with Cornell (4-6) to start the opening set and fell behind by as many as three points (18-15), but the Knights kept their composure and closed strong to win that first game 25-21 and take a 1-0 overall lead.
The Knights continued that momentum into the second set where they hit .448 on the attack and received five kills from
Aerin Baker (Saugatuck, Mich./Saugatuck) and four more from
Sarah Bradley (Clarkston, Mich./Everest Collegiate) on the way to taking a 2-0 overall lead.
The Rams started strong in the third game and forced an early Calvin timeout, but the Knights were able to chase them down midway through the set and then closed strong with the help of a big serving run by
Grace Spoelma (Caledonia, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) to help finish off the sweep.
Calvin hit .337 for the match on the attack, led by Bradley with 12 kills and 10 from Baker.
Caralee Schipper (Mount Brydges, Ontario/Strathroy District Collegiate Institute) also had a big night with seven kills and an attack efficiency of .700.
Delaney Kemp (Frisco, Texas/Frisco Centennial) led Calvin with 18 assists to go with seven digs.
Tryna Vander Zwaag (Hamilton, Mich./Holland Christian) led the Knights with 11 digs.
COACH'S COMMENT: "We're very excited about the direction we're going," Calvin head women's volleyball coach
Amber Warners said. "We've been working on being much simpler on defense and just doing more reading. We still have a ways to go but I liked the improvement. We tend to feel like we have to play perfect and it's a game of mistakes. We have to learn to shake off those things, which I think we did a good job of tonight."
NEXT UP: Calvin women's volleyball will return to action tomorrow (Saturday, September 20) when it hosts Heidelberg University at 2:00 PM in Van Noord Arena.
