ALMA, Mich. – The Calvin University women's volleyball team pushed its winning streak to six with a pair of 3-0 wins at the Alma College Invitational on Friday night over Anderson University (Ind.) and Concordia University Chicago.
Calvin (11-2) won the first match against Anderson (6-5) by the scores of 25-19, 25-16 and 26-24 before sweeping Concordia Chicago (3-9) 25-16, 25-11 and 25-17.
Match 1
The Knights opened the day with a 3-0 defeat of Anderson by the scores of 25-19, 25-16 and 26-24.
The first set went back and forth with 11 ties and seven lead changes, but the Knights made a big push down the stretch with the score tied 18-18 and won seven of the final eight points to secure the set.
Aerin Baker (Saugatuck, Mich./Saugatuck) and
Emma Ekblaw (Chesterton, Ind./Chesterton) each recorded four kills to lead Calvin.
Calvin got off a quick start to set two and never looked back, leading 6-1 early and continuing to push further ahead with the help of seven Baker kills to take a 2-0 overall lead.
Anderson battled in the third set, keeping the score close and making two big runs to take a late 24-23 lead, but Calvin held off one set point with a kill by
Sarah Bradley (Clarkston, Mich./Everest Collegiate) and closed the match with a service ace by
Delaney Kemp (Frisco, Texas/Frisco Centennial) to secure the win.
Baker led the Calvin attack with 13 kills, followed by Ekblaw with eight kills.
Tryna Vander Zwaag (Hamilton, Mich./Holland Christian) led the team with 13 digs. Ekblaw added nine total blocks, including three solo blocks.
Match 2
Calvin finished the day with another 3-0 sweep against Concordia Chicago by the scores of 25-16, 25-11 and 25-17.
The Knights were dominant on the attack, hitting .308 for the match while holding CUC to .028. Calvin was also strong in the serving game and finished with 10 aces, led by Bradley with a career-high four for the match.
Baker continued her strong day on the attack and led the team with 13 kills while hitting .632 for the match. Bradley finished with seven kills to go with her four aces.
With her 24 total kills on the day, Baker surpassed 900 kills for her career and now has 915 during her four seasons.
Kemp led Calvin with 17 assists, while Vander Zwaag recorded 11 digs.
NEXT UP: Calvin will return to action tomorrow (Saturday, September 27) when it closes the tournament at Alma College with a match against Capital University at 12:00 PM.
