As students stare down the end of the semester, student-athletes are also staring down the final games, matches and meets of the spring season.
The women’s teams, including track and field; lacrosse; softball; tennis and golf, are over halfway through their seasons. Some teams are only looking at a few more events before their season comes to an end.
The women’s golf team ended their fall season in October with an encouraging finish at the MIAA Final in Battle Creek, MI. They picked up their spring season by finishing third in the Carthage Central Florida Classic during spring break. Though the team finished last in the tournament, sophomore Nicole VanderYacht placed in 6th in individuals.
Most recently, the golf team played against Hope College in the DAP Cup. The head-to-head matchup resulted in close loss for Calvin between their four athletes and Hope’s four athletes.
That was back in the beginning of April, and the team won’t be back on the links until Saturday, April 29. It will be more match play, this time at Cornerstone University.
The women’s lacrosse team got off to an incredible start once conference play began. They began the season 2-5 in non-conference play, but then played out of their minds once April came.
Calvin sits atop the conference at 5-0, outscoring opponents by a 69 point margin. The dominance comes just in time, as the Knights prepare to face rival Hope this Saturday. Hope is 4-0 in MIAA play, and should be one of the more competitive matchups for Calvin this season.
Though they have yet to win a conference game, the softball team’s 0-8 conference record may be deceiving. The team is 13-17 overall, and are only at a negative 4.25 run deficit in conference play.
The softball team still has time to climb their way back in the standings, with eight more conference games left on the schedule. Prior to the publishing of this article, the softball team will have faced Hope, however they also play a weekend double-header against Kalamazoo College.
April has been a kind month to the women’s tennis team, who have gone 5-1 in conference play. In fact, the last four matches Calvin has walked away with 9-0 victories.
The men’s teams have also been making moves this spring.
After finishing first place at the Pinehurst Invite on March 21 with 312 strokes, the men’s golf team had a harder time in the next two invites.
At the Broadmoor Invite in Indianapolis on April 3-4, they finished 4th place. In the next invite at the Steve Tyler Memorial at Kalamazoo, they did better, finishing second.
This past Tuesday, at the Knight Invite in Pierson, Michigan, the Knights finished first, defeating Hope by one stroke.
The men’s tennis team have been having a great season and conference. They stand unbeaten at home, 7-0. In conference, they stand 5-2, tied for third place with Adrian.
Most recently, the Knights have defeated Albion 9-0 on April 19th.
The men’s lacrosse team stands at 4-9 this season, and 0-4 for the MIAA conference. Starting with a game at Olivet on April 8th, the Knights have suffered four consecutive losses.
On April 11, the Knights were unfortunately beaten by rivals Hope 16-9 at the Zuidema Field.
The baseball team currently stands at 6th place, with a record of 7-9 for conference, and an overall record of 12-15. Most recently, freshman Trevor VanDuyn of Calvin was named MIAA Baseball Pitcher of the Week. In addition, they traded a game with Albion on Saturday, April 15th. They won the first 7 inning game 12-10, but lost the 9 inning game 10-4.
Spring season has yet to end, and many teams still have a lot to look forward to.
