That's better
Got the latest rankings from ICSTS. They make a lot more sense:
1. Faith Christian
2. CALVARY CHRISTIAN
3. Horizon Christian
4. Clinton Christian
5. Heritage Christian
Mine would be:
1. Faith Christian
2. CALVARY CHRISTIAN
3. Clinton Christian
4. Horizon Christian
5. Goshen Blue Blazers
I'm guessing about Horizon, as their results are nearly impossible to find on the Net. Anyway, as you can see, mine and ICSTS's rankings are much closer. Granting ICSTS the benefit of the doubt, I think there were several voters who didn't realize Calumet had become Calvary.
I still think the darkhorse of the group is Goshen. They looked like they had a lot of potential at our tournament last year, and their two best players were eighth and ninth graders. Now I've found out they've added an elite-level eighth-grader. Look out for them as they gain experience throughout the year.
East Chicago Central tomorrow. According to the Times, they beat Westville in four last week. I think we'll have our hands full. Also, speaking of the Times, apparently they are going to be at practice today to gather information for a story about Faith Rohn that will be in tomorrow's newspaper. The Calvary profile is rising...
Monday, August 31, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
This was better
Community Baptist put up a fight tonight. The fact that the score was similar to earlier games this season against lesser foes proves the fact that Calvary plays to the level of their competition. Calvary tonight probably played at their highest level of the year so far, at least in the first two games, as they defeated Community Baptist in South Bend this evening, 25-10, 25-10, 25-19.
After Calvary jumped out to a 3-0 lead, CB tied it up at 3. CB was not impressive in warmups; however, warmups really don't show how good defensively a team is. CB is very, very good defensively. But with little offense, they have to depend on their opponent making mistakes. After 3-3, we didn't make many. We matched them defensively in addition to serving very well and hitting well, and outscored CB 17-1 to pull out to a 20-4 lead. After a couple of errors, Calvary scored four in a row and led 24-6. The Patriots then made four consecutive errors before they finished it, in my favorite way: a BIG hit by Taylor, down the line and landing about four to five feet behind the ten-foot line.
Calvary again started slowly in the second game, even slower than the first. They went down 7-3 before they woke up. And woke up they did, going on another 17-1 run to lead 20-8. After giving up a couple of points, Holly joined the excellent serving club, serving five in a row as the girls finished off CB 25-10 again.
The third game was just like the first two, at least to start. The girls were down 5-3, 7-5, 8-6 and 9-8 before they got into their groove, outscoreing CB 8-1 to lead 16-10. This seemed to cause the girls to perhaps relax a bit too much. CB got back to be within one, 17-16. Calvary then turned it on a little again, scoring the next five to lead 22-16. The two teams traded points to 24-18. CB got one more before Calvary finished them off.
Next game is at East Chicago on Tuesday. Details about where it is are below. Hope to see you there.
EDIT: I forgot to write about the JH and JV. I'll make it short and sweet: JH won 25-6, 25-7; JV won 25-8, 25-10. JVA is now 4-0 on the season, and the JH team is 3-0. Since the KV games, these teams have faced even weaker opposition than the varsity, if that's possible.
After Calvary jumped out to a 3-0 lead, CB tied it up at 3. CB was not impressive in warmups; however, warmups really don't show how good defensively a team is. CB is very, very good defensively. But with little offense, they have to depend on their opponent making mistakes. After 3-3, we didn't make many. We matched them defensively in addition to serving very well and hitting well, and outscored CB 17-1 to pull out to a 20-4 lead. After a couple of errors, Calvary scored four in a row and led 24-6. The Patriots then made four consecutive errors before they finished it, in my favorite way: a BIG hit by Taylor, down the line and landing about four to five feet behind the ten-foot line.
Calvary again started slowly in the second game, even slower than the first. They went down 7-3 before they woke up. And woke up they did, going on another 17-1 run to lead 20-8. After giving up a couple of points, Holly joined the excellent serving club, serving five in a row as the girls finished off CB 25-10 again.
The third game was just like the first two, at least to start. The girls were down 5-3, 7-5, 8-6 and 9-8 before they got into their groove, outscoreing CB 8-1 to lead 16-10. This seemed to cause the girls to perhaps relax a bit too much. CB got back to be within one, 17-16. Calvary then turned it on a little again, scoring the next five to lead 22-16. The two teams traded points to 24-18. CB got one more before Calvary finished them off.
Next game is at East Chicago on Tuesday. Details about where it is are below. Hope to see you there.
EDIT: I forgot to write about the JH and JV. I'll make it short and sweet: JH won 25-6, 25-7; JV won 25-8, 25-10. JVA is now 4-0 on the season, and the JH team is 3-0. Since the KV games, these teams have faced even weaker opposition than the varsity, if that's possible.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
More of the same
I wasn't very funny in my last post, so............
My mom told me if I couldn't say something nice about someone, I shouldn't say anything at all, so this is what I have to say about MCAC.
*crickets*
Ok, that's not really fair to MCAC. This is the first year they have had a volleyball team. They actually were probably the second-best team we've faced this year. But we were pretty sharp tonight.
The first game set the tone for the evening. Some great serving and some solid hitting, probably the best hitting we've done this year, put Calvary into a 18-3 lead. Then a missed serve, a hitting error, and two miscommunications gave MCAC four points. Calvary then reestablished themselves and finished off the Wildcats, 25-9.
Coach Carr put in the JVA team for the second game. They played very well, with some nice front row play by Holly and Jessica and some good serves by Anna. They were on about the same level at MCAC, and this was evidenced in the final score, 26-24.
The varsity returned for the third game. It was more of what happened in the first game. Some excellent hitting, especially by Jessi and Taylor, and solid all-around play by everyone turned back a better effort by MCAC than they showed in the first game. The result, however, was similar to the first, with Calvary winning 25-11.
In the earlier games, the junior high team won 25-5, 25-7 and the JV won 25-7, 25-17. I believe JVA played the first game and JVB played the second.
Community Baptist of South Bend on Friday in our first game far away from home. JH at 4, JV at 5 and varsity at 6. Probably won't see most of you there, but I will be there, God-willing.
My mom told me if I couldn't say something nice about someone, I shouldn't say anything at all, so this is what I have to say about MCAC.
*crickets*
Ok, that's not really fair to MCAC. This is the first year they have had a volleyball team. They actually were probably the second-best team we've faced this year. But we were pretty sharp tonight.
The first game set the tone for the evening. Some great serving and some solid hitting, probably the best hitting we've done this year, put Calvary into a 18-3 lead. Then a missed serve, a hitting error, and two miscommunications gave MCAC four points. Calvary then reestablished themselves and finished off the Wildcats, 25-9.
Coach Carr put in the JVA team for the second game. They played very well, with some nice front row play by Holly and Jessica and some good serves by Anna. They were on about the same level at MCAC, and this was evidenced in the final score, 26-24.
The varsity returned for the third game. It was more of what happened in the first game. Some excellent hitting, especially by Jessi and Taylor, and solid all-around play by everyone turned back a better effort by MCAC than they showed in the first game. The result, however, was similar to the first, with Calvary winning 25-11.
In the earlier games, the junior high team won 25-5, 25-7 and the JV won 25-7, 25-17. I believe JVA played the first game and JVB played the second.
Community Baptist of South Bend on Friday in our first game far away from home. JH at 4, JV at 5 and varsity at 6. Probably won't see most of you there, but I will be there, God-willing.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
This is not fun
The girls played in a trimatch on Saturday that was supposed to be a quad, but Covenant of Demotte dropped out due to a scheduling error made by a previous AD. That left us, Grace (the host) and Cornerstone Christian Academy of Sycamore, IL.
We played Grace first. We handled them pretty easily last year, so we figured it would even easier this year. The first game did not dissuade us from that notion. After the usual slow start, the girls pulled away and won 25-9. When they started slowly in the second game, we figured it would be just like the first - the girls eventually would get it together and would win easily. After Grace stayed with the girls into the teens, we figured they would pull it out and would win, maybe not easily. When we went up 22-20, we started breathing more easily. But after five straight by Grace, we had our first game loss of the season, 22-25. That seemed to light a fire under the girls, and they stormed back to win the third 25-8, and the fourth, 25-14. The final point was a big Faith hit.
Then came Cornerstone. We remembered them from the CLA tournament last year (well, I didn't at first - ask Jessie C about that), and remembered that they weren't very good. Well either they got worse or we got better, or both. I have noticed that our girls often play down to the level of their competition. We found out in this game that there levels so low that we can't get to them. Taylor served eighteen straight points, may of them aces, before an error gave Cornerstone its first point. Seven more points later the game was over, 25-1. Without going too much further into detail, Ally moved to setter and Taylor, Faith, Rachel and Jessi all spent a lot of time on the bench, which didn't affect the finals of the second and third games much, as they were 25-6 and 25-4.
MCAC on Tuesday for our first home game. JH at 4, JV at 5 and varsity at 6. Hopefully it will be a better game.
We played Grace first. We handled them pretty easily last year, so we figured it would even easier this year. The first game did not dissuade us from that notion. After the usual slow start, the girls pulled away and won 25-9. When they started slowly in the second game, we figured it would be just like the first - the girls eventually would get it together and would win easily. After Grace stayed with the girls into the teens, we figured they would pull it out and would win, maybe not easily. When we went up 22-20, we started breathing more easily. But after five straight by Grace, we had our first game loss of the season, 22-25. That seemed to light a fire under the girls, and they stormed back to win the third 25-8, and the fourth, 25-14. The final point was a big Faith hit.
Then came Cornerstone. We remembered them from the CLA tournament last year (well, I didn't at first - ask Jessie C about that), and remembered that they weren't very good. Well either they got worse or we got better, or both. I have noticed that our girls often play down to the level of their competition. We found out in this game that there levels so low that we can't get to them. Taylor served eighteen straight points, may of them aces, before an error gave Cornerstone its first point. Seven more points later the game was over, 25-1. Without going too much further into detail, Ally moved to setter and Taylor, Faith, Rachel and Jessi all spent a lot of time on the bench, which didn't affect the finals of the second and third games much, as they were 25-6 and 25-4.
MCAC on Tuesday for our first home game. JH at 4, JV at 5 and varsity at 6. Hopefully it will be a better game.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Practice would have been more competitive
As we suspected, we have a very good team. If KTA is representative, the competition, not so much. Beginning with the junior high game, continuing through the JV game and ending with the varsity, it was not even fun. Except for me, but I have a volleyball problem. If I have the JH scores correct, the cumulative score was 150-49. And this was with liberal substitutions and Ally setting and anything else the coaches could think of to keep the score down. I arrived after the JH match was over, but Kelsey reported to me that the scores were 25-10, 25-6. She told me it was that close only because of service errors on Calvary's part.
The JV game was even more lopsided, at least the first one. The final of the first game was 25-2, and the two that KTA got were from a service error and a hitting error by the Lady Patriots. I don't know if it was because KTA didn't get to practice much, but that's what it looked like. They were barely able to even touch the ball, much less return it over the net. The second game was a little better. KTA improved greatly from the first game, but the final was never in doubt. Calvary was up big again early, and then "hung on" to finish the match, 25-14.
The theme was continued in the varsity match. Calvary did not have two starters playing, yet still dominated the first game. As in the JV game, KTA had a hard time even touching a ball. For the match, Calvary had eighteen aces - I don't know how many were in the first game, but I believe Calvary got a majority of them in that game. Also as in the JV game, KTA seemed to wake up a little in the second, which made a little difference in the final score, which was 25-12.
Tomorrow is the trimatch at Grace. It was originally a quad, but Covenant dropped out. Out of fear, I suppose. Games are at 10 and 11:30. See you there.
The JV game was even more lopsided, at least the first one. The final of the first game was 25-2, and the two that KTA got were from a service error and a hitting error by the Lady Patriots. I don't know if it was because KTA didn't get to practice much, but that's what it looked like. They were barely able to even touch the ball, much less return it over the net. The second game was a little better. KTA improved greatly from the first game, but the final was never in doubt. Calvary was up big again early, and then "hung on" to finish the match, 25-14.
The theme was continued in the varsity match. Calvary did not have two starters playing, yet still dominated the first game. As in the JV game, KTA had a hard time even touching a ball. For the match, Calvary had eighteen aces - I don't know how many were in the first game, but I believe Calvary got a majority of them in that game. Also as in the JV game, KTA seemed to wake up a little in the second, which made a little difference in the final score, which was 25-12.
Tomorrow is the trimatch at Grace. It was originally a quad, but Covenant dropped out. Out of fear, I suppose. Games are at 10 and 11:30. See you there.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Mixed emotions
Those of you who are regular readers of this blog know that I do not report on the games and the team like a news reporter. I offer opinion, I ramble, I rant, I try to be funny sometimes - I do it not only to keep you all informed but also to entertain - myself, mostly. So I'm not going to coldly report that the Calvary Lady Patriots volleyball team won their opener last night, even though they did. I am going to tell you that I don't think I've ever been as disappointed as I was when Kristi told me that the doctor told her that Kara's wrist was broken.
I've expressed to a few of you that I have been looking toward this season with great anticipation (as I always do), because I love the sport, I enjoy the young people, and I love the Calumet/Calvary program; but also with dread, because it was going be the last season one of our kids would be part of the that program. Well, not long ago I think I finally resolved to just enjoy every minute of it, to not think about it being the last season, to appreciate all the things I love about it - to live in the present, to use a cliche.
I just didn't factor in that Kara might get injured (considering all of her car accidents, I probably should have). So as we (Coach Casey, Kelsey, Mary Ellen and two young Rohn children) rode home in silence from the game yesterday, I tried to come to terms with the possibility that Kara's season (and mine, as overbearing-parent as that sounds) was over before it barely began. After toying with the irrational and emotion-driven thought of bagging the whole season if Kara was done, as I thought it would be too painful to watch without Kara playing, I remembered all the stuff that I enjoy so much about my daughters being a part of this program. I remembered that I was going to enjoy this season even though it would be our last. I remembered that God is sovereign, even when we don't understand His plan, and He is good. So now I would have to experience at least part of it without my daughter to watch. So be it. I still want to be part of it. So if the rest of team lets me, I will continue to be way over-involved as I have always been.
You can't get rid of me that easily.
Back to the game.
After a couple years of post-Frank McClure lull, it looks like the fan base has been reestablished and reenergized. Led by Tim Young and Jake Schaap, a large contingent of fans followed the team down to Wheatfield last night to cheer on the Patriots. Gotta love the networking power of Facebook.
At 5:30, the JVB team took on Kankakee Valley while the JVA team played KV's JV team. Yes, at the same time. And there could have been a couple more games going on in the other gym. Yes, two gyms. All this in a school of 400 students. I guess the government schools need every tax dollar they get. But I digress. It was interesting to try to watch two games at the same time, especially since both matches were closely contested. Both of the best-of-three matches went to three games, with our JVB team falling 25-21, 21-25, 13-15, and the JVB team winning 25-23, 11-25, 15-14.
The varsity match followed, starting about 7:20. Starting lineup was Faith, Taylor, Rachel, Jessi, Kara and Emily, with Allison as libero. The game opened up with a lot of ragged play on both sides. You could tell it was the first match of the year for both squads. KV pulled out to a 13-9 lead. Then Calvary went on a 12-2 run to jump out to a 21-15 lead. I'd like to say it was because of the exceptional play of our girls, but KV made a lot of mistakes in addition to our improving play, especially Faith's serves. Calvary then closed out a 25-17 win.
The Patriots continued their solid play to open the second game, and jumped out to a 10-5 lead. I'm not sure exactly when Kara went out, but her absence led to some confused play and the girls starting making mistakes. KV gradually caught up and went ahead 22-20. Solid serving by...someone. I remember good serving, but I didn't write down who (Rachel?) got us four straight points. We gave up one, they had a service error and we won 25-23.
I didn't pay much attention to the ebb and flow of the third game, but the girls pulled out another win, 25-20, to win the match in three straight. My impressions of the match were that the girls were tight early; Faith was placing her spikes instead of blasting due to the double blocking; besides the missed ones, our serves were difficult to return, especially Faith and Rachel's; Ally played great defense; and the girls had trouble adjusting to two starters being out.
Calvary puts its undefeated record on the line on Friday at the old Armory. Times and exact location are in the schedule at the bottom. See you there.
I've expressed to a few of you that I have been looking toward this season with great anticipation (as I always do), because I love the sport, I enjoy the young people, and I love the Calumet/Calvary program; but also with dread, because it was going be the last season one of our kids would be part of the that program. Well, not long ago I think I finally resolved to just enjoy every minute of it, to not think about it being the last season, to appreciate all the things I love about it - to live in the present, to use a cliche.
I just didn't factor in that Kara might get injured (considering all of her car accidents, I probably should have). So as we (Coach Casey, Kelsey, Mary Ellen and two young Rohn children) rode home in silence from the game yesterday, I tried to come to terms with the possibility that Kara's season (and mine, as overbearing-parent as that sounds) was over before it barely began. After toying with the irrational and emotion-driven thought of bagging the whole season if Kara was done, as I thought it would be too painful to watch without Kara playing, I remembered all the stuff that I enjoy so much about my daughters being a part of this program. I remembered that I was going to enjoy this season even though it would be our last. I remembered that God is sovereign, even when we don't understand His plan, and He is good. So now I would have to experience at least part of it without my daughter to watch. So be it. I still want to be part of it. So if the rest of team lets me, I will continue to be way over-involved as I have always been.
You can't get rid of me that easily.
Back to the game.
After a couple years of post-Frank McClure lull, it looks like the fan base has been reestablished and reenergized. Led by Tim Young and Jake Schaap, a large contingent of fans followed the team down to Wheatfield last night to cheer on the Patriots. Gotta love the networking power of Facebook.
At 5:30, the JVB team took on Kankakee Valley while the JVA team played KV's JV team. Yes, at the same time. And there could have been a couple more games going on in the other gym. Yes, two gyms. All this in a school of 400 students. I guess the government schools need every tax dollar they get. But I digress. It was interesting to try to watch two games at the same time, especially since both matches were closely contested. Both of the best-of-three matches went to three games, with our JVB team falling 25-21, 21-25, 13-15, and the JVB team winning 25-23, 11-25, 15-14.
The varsity match followed, starting about 7:20. Starting lineup was Faith, Taylor, Rachel, Jessi, Kara and Emily, with Allison as libero. The game opened up with a lot of ragged play on both sides. You could tell it was the first match of the year for both squads. KV pulled out to a 13-9 lead. Then Calvary went on a 12-2 run to jump out to a 21-15 lead. I'd like to say it was because of the exceptional play of our girls, but KV made a lot of mistakes in addition to our improving play, especially Faith's serves. Calvary then closed out a 25-17 win.
The Patriots continued their solid play to open the second game, and jumped out to a 10-5 lead. I'm not sure exactly when Kara went out, but her absence led to some confused play and the girls starting making mistakes. KV gradually caught up and went ahead 22-20. Solid serving by...someone. I remember good serving, but I didn't write down who (Rachel?) got us four straight points. We gave up one, they had a service error and we won 25-23.
I didn't pay much attention to the ebb and flow of the third game, but the girls pulled out another win, 25-20, to win the match in three straight. My impressions of the match were that the girls were tight early; Faith was placing her spikes instead of blasting due to the double blocking; besides the missed ones, our serves were difficult to return, especially Faith and Rachel's; Ally played great defense; and the girls had trouble adjusting to two starters being out.
Calvary puts its undefeated record on the line on Friday at the old Armory. Times and exact location are in the schedule at the bottom. See you there.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Season and game preview
From the season preview issue of the NWI Times:
Kankakee Valley Kougars
Players to watch: Tabitha Newcomb, Sr., MH; Stacy Prairie, Sr., OH; Brittany Stall, Sr., S.
Outlook: Returning seven seniors, the Kougars are as experienced as they are talented. There is a lot of height, with sophomore Kimmie Rusken showing talent as a 6-1 middle. This team could be a surprise in the first round of conference play and as defense improves, hold onto leads through the second round.
Quote: "I have told the girls over and over that I think we can be a surprising team. It's tough being one of the smaller schools, but I think we can compete with everyone in this conference." -- coach Greg Welch.
Calvary Christian
Players to watch: Faith Rohn, So., OH; Jessi Stas, Sr., OH; Rachel Eizenga, Jr., S
Outlook: Rohn has already received college interest, making her C.C.'s go-to player. With a beefed-up schedule that includes more IHSAA teams -- like Kankakee Valley and E.C. Central -- Calvary is prepared to put its unbeaten record on the line.
Quote: "We were very excited to get a few public schools on our schedule this year. We'll try to add a few more for next year, but it's very, very difficult getting on. It's a great chance for us to show who we are." -- coach Melinda Carr.
Also girls (and Coach), please review the roster for errors in heights, years and positions. You can also give me your numbers or I'll get them at the game.
See you Tuesday.
Kankakee Valley Kougars
Players to watch: Tabitha Newcomb, Sr., MH; Stacy Prairie, Sr., OH; Brittany Stall, Sr., S.
Outlook: Returning seven seniors, the Kougars are as experienced as they are talented. There is a lot of height, with sophomore Kimmie Rusken showing talent as a 6-1 middle. This team could be a surprise in the first round of conference play and as defense improves, hold onto leads through the second round.
Quote: "I have told the girls over and over that I think we can be a surprising team. It's tough being one of the smaller schools, but I think we can compete with everyone in this conference." -- coach Greg Welch.
Calvary Christian
Players to watch: Faith Rohn, So., OH; Jessi Stas, Sr., OH; Rachel Eizenga, Jr., S
Outlook: Rohn has already received college interest, making her C.C.'s go-to player. With a beefed-up schedule that includes more IHSAA teams -- like Kankakee Valley and E.C. Central -- Calvary is prepared to put its unbeaten record on the line.
Quote: "We were very excited to get a few public schools on our schedule this year. We'll try to add a few more for next year, but it's very, very difficult getting on. It's a great chance for us to show who we are." -- coach Melinda Carr.
Also girls (and Coach), please review the roster for errors in heights, years and positions. You can also give me your numbers or I'll get them at the game.
See you Tuesday.
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