Women's Volleyball

Calvin Women’s Volleyball Sweeps Hanover in First Round of NCAA III Tournament

-- Story provided by Calvin University Athletics --

CALVIN POSTMATCH PRESS CONFERENCE - 11-20-25

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The 19th-ranked Calvin University women's volleyball team advanced to the second round of the NCAA III Tournament with a 3-0 win over Hanover College by the scores of 25-21, 25-23 and 25-15 on Thursday at the Illinois Wesleyan University regional.
 
Calvin (26-3) got off to a great start thanks to a strong attack up the middle and a strong block on defense and held an 18-9 lead, but Hanover (21-11) fought to get back into the set and cut the deficit to 23-21 late. The Knights were up to the task down the stretch, however, and finished the set with a block from Emma Ekblaw (Chesterton, Ind./Chesterton) and Caralee Schipper (Mount Brydges, Ontario/Strathroy District Collegiate Institute) to take a 1-0 overall lead in the match.
 
Aerin Baker (Saugatuck, Mich./Saugatuck) was the star on the attack to start, recording six first-set kills as the Knights hit .324 as a team. Mara Boa (Atlanta, Ga./Riverwood International Charter) also had a big first set with two kills and three of the Knights' five blocks in the set.
 
The second set featured big runs from both teams, starting with an 11-3 run by the Panthers to open the set to put the Knights in early hole. The Knights answered with a 7-0 run of their own to cut the deficit to 11-10 and finally took the lead at 17-16. A 4-0 Hanover run gave the Panthers a 21-19 lead late, but Calvin answered with a run of its own to wrestle the lead back at 23-21 before Ekblaw finished the set with a kill to give the Knights a 25-23 win and a 2-0 overall lead.
 
After recording one kill in the opening set,  Sarah Bradley (Clarkston, Mich./Everest Collegiate) came alive in the second set with five kills to lead a Calvin attack that recorded 17 kills and a .277 attack efficiency. Baker and Ekblaw each recorded four kills in the set and Tryna Vander Zwaag (Hamilton, Mich./Holland Christian) had nine digs from the libero position to lead the defensive effort.
 
The third set would be all Calvin, with the Knights racing out to a 12-5 lead before a big serving run from Bradley helped put the set and the match away.
 
Bradley recorded three service aces in the set while Lina Kasuboski (Racine, Wis./Union Grove) added two. Ekblaw added three more kills and three blocks to her total, and the Knights finished the set with five total blocks.
 
Calvin finished the match with a big advantage in attack efficiency as the Knights hit .298 for the match compared to .153 for the Panthers. Calvin recorded  11 total blocks, led by Boa with six and Ekblaw with five. Baker and Madison Wiersema (Fremont, Mich./Western Michigan Christian/Arkansas St.) added three blocks apiece.
 
Baker led the Calvin attack with 11 kills, followed by eight apiece from Bradley and Ekblaw. Grace Spoelma (Caledonia, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) and Delaney Kemp (Frisco, Texas/Frisco Centennial) had 19 and 18 assists, respectively. Vander Zwaag led the Knights with 16 digs.

COACH'S COMMENT: "I thought we came out with a really hot start," Calvin head coach Dr. Amber Warners said. "And when you do that it makes me a little nervous that you can get a little complacent and I think that's what happened. But I was just really proud of our team for just staying the course and trusting each other. We've got some things we have to shore up, but that's volleyball. I'm really happy with how they stayed in it emotionally and physically. I thought we played really good defense the second half of the match and I was really happy about that."
 
NEXT UP: Calvin women's volleyball advanced to the second round of the NCAA III Tournament with the win and will face 13th-ranked UW-Whitewater in the second round tomorrow (Friday, November 21). UW-Whitewater advanced to the second round with a 3-0 win over Coe College in round one.