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Photo by Jon Behm

Wearing pink attire to support cancer research, Calvin dominated Adrian.

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Photo by Jon Behm

Senior Kelsey Sears personally raised $408 for her 17 digs.

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Photo by Jon Behm

Before the match, everything was pointing toward the second installment of the 2009 chapter of the Calvin-Hope rivalry being a clash of epic proportions. Hope had already defeated Calvin once this season. Hope held a one-game lead over Calvin in the MIAA standings. Hope was ranked fifth nationally, while Calvin was ranked 13th. The Calvin fans were looking to set a record for attendance, meaning that the atmosphere would be loud and electric.

Unfortunately for the Knights (20-6 overall, 12-2 MIAA), they came out on the wrong end of the match, losing to Hope (24-2 overall, 14-0 MIAA) before a record-setting crowd in a thrilling five-set match, 22-25, 25-22, 27-25, 12-25, and 6-15.

The pregame bash had the fans pumped up and ready to support their Calvin Knights. The Knights, too, appeared to be pumped, as they played with energy and passion that helped to propel them to an early lead in the first game.

“We have played in front of big crowds before,” senior Kelsey Sears commented before the game. “When we make a big play and the crowd is loud, we definitely feel that energy.”

After dropping the first point of the night to the Dutch, Calvin claimed the next four points as their own, gaining a 4-1 lead before a kill by Jacie Fiedler of Hope ended the Knight run. The Dutch would tie the game at 4-4 before senior Kelsey Sears would make a diving dig to set up sophomore Rebecca Kamp for a kill from the back row, sparking a 6-1 run by the Knights, giving Calvin a commanding 10-5 lead.

The Dutch would not go down without a fight, though, and slowly chipped away at the Calvin lead until they trailed by only one point, 12-11. It was at this point that the crowd began to make its presence felt. With a resounding chant of “Let’s go Calvin!” occurring in the background, Rebecca Kamp came up with a monster kill, beginning yet another run by the Knights, who stretched the lead to 17-12.

“[The crowd cheering] helped a lot,” Kamp commented. “Just them being really loud and really encouraging gave us that extra bit of energy we needed.”

Unfortunately, the energy would be short-lived, as a service error by the Knights would begin a 7-0 run for Hope, giving them the Dutch a late lead of 17-19. The Knights would fight back and tie the game at 22-22, but the Dutch defense picked up and blocked three consecutive Calvin kill attempts to gain the 22-25 victory.

“What goes on on our side of the net is what we ultimately have control over,” Sears said. “We have to focus on playing our game and doing the things that we are in control of.”

The crowd remained pumped up between games as there were free T-shirts, volleyballs and rally towels tossed into the crowd. Chants of “Calvin” and footstomps of fans could be heard throughout the Van Noord arena as the second set began. However, the energy of the team was lacking as it came out with a sluggish start to trail the Dutch 4-7 early.

Sophomore Erin VanderPlas put some energy back into the Knights and stopped the bleeding, though, with a cross-court kill to start a 3-0 run for the Knights, tying the game at 7-7. The Dutch and Knights would then trade points to make the score 9-9, before another kill by VanderPlas sparked a 4-0 run to give Calvin the 13-9 lead.

As with the first set, though, the Dutch would chip away at the lead late, eventually trailing the Knights by a single point 18-17. The recalcitrant Knights would not give up the lead, though, as they would extend the lead to 22-18 before a questionable call by the ref would give the Dutch the serve.

The Calvin fans would not give up on their Knights, though, as they began to tear into the ref and revitalize the Knights, who would trade off points with the Dutch en route to a 25-22 set two victory.

“I think the louder it is in the gym, the better we play,” coach Amber Warners commented. “Whether it is the other team’s crowd or our crowd, it is nice to have people being loud and cheering.”

After a 10-minute break in the action, the Knights came out strong in the third set. They matched Hope point-for-point, with the score being tied three times at 3-3, 5-5, and 6-6. With the score tied 6-6, the Knights began to gain some control of the game, with a bit of help from one of the line judged.

Rebecca Kamp had laid down an authoritative kill that a Hope player managed to dig out. However, on the ensuing kill attempt by Hope, the ball went on the out-of-bounds side of the net antenna, landing in bounds. The head referee, who had flinched out of the way, awarded the point to Hope. The line judge, though, waved his flag to get the head ref’s attention and informed him that the Knights deserved the point, giving Calvin a 7-6 lead.

This lead would be short-lived, however, as Hope would fight back and tie the game at 11-11 before trading off points en route to a 23-23 tie. A call against the Knights gave Hope set-point at 23-24. It was at this point that Rebecca Kamp took over the match. Kamp had a monster cross-court kill to tie the game up at 24-24, ensuring that the game would not stop at 25 points.

A serve out of bounds by the Knights would give Hope the 24-25 lead and the serve, but Kamp yet again slammed home an authoritative kill, causing a 25-25 tie. On the ensuing volley, Hope would hit a kill too far, giving the Knights set-point at 26-25. Kamp would yet again take control, slamming home the winning kill between two diving Dutch players, giving the Knights the 27-25 set victory and a 2-1 set advantage.

“The team trusted in me,” Kamp stated. “The ball comes to the setter and she makes the decision. I just do what I can with it. The team just wants the ball to be put on the ground. Whoever the ball gets set to, they’re the ones who have to take ownership.”

After a thrilling victory, the crowd was beyond stoked for what could have been the fourth and final set. Unfortunately, Hope came out with a renewed vigor and trounced the Knights, pulling out early runs of five, three and five, en route to a commanding 4-16 lead. The Knights were able to put back-to-back points together at this point for the first time, cutting the lead to ten at 6-16.

The Dutch would respond with yet another run, though, and ultimately pull out a decisive 12-25 victory.

“They just came out really strong,” Kamp said. “I think we were caught a little off guard and just weren’t able to come back.”

With the sets tied at two a piece, the match came down to a decisive, first-to-15, win-by-two set number five. The Knights appeared to have a bit of a hangover from the fourth set, as Hope yet again jumped out to a quick 1-3 lead. The Knights fought back via two kills by freshman Lizzie Kamp to cut the lead to 3-5.

To the dismay of the Calvin faithful, though, Hope would go on a small run to gain the 3-8 advantage. Rebecca Kamp would make a kill out of the back row to stop the bleeding, but the wound would open up again immediately, as Hope got the serve back and extended their lead to 5-12.

Another monster kill by Lizzie Kamp would give the Knights the serve trailing 6-12, but Sara DeWeerdt would respond with a kill of her own to give the serve back to the Dutch, and ultimately the win, as Calvin fell to Hope by a score of 6-15, giving Hope a 2-3 set victory.

“We realize that Hope has a very, very good team this year,” Warners commented. “I don’t want to take any credit away from them.”

Despite losing, the Knights showed tremendous improvement since their Sept. 26 loss to the Dutch in three sets, 22-25, 25-15, and 25-18.

“I think we worked together a lot better as a team,” Kamp stated. “We were more calm and in control of our own emotions, so then we were able to play within ourselves and make fewer mistakes on our side.”

The Knights return to action when they, along with Hope, host the annual Midwest Challenge. The Knights will face off against Olivet and Manchester on Friday before taking on St. Mary’s and Hanover on Saturday.