The women’s volleyball team won their seventh straight match on Wednesday, Oct. 11. They defeated St. Mary’s College 3-0 in straight sets, making it the second time Calvin beat St. Mary’s this season.

The victory solidifies the Knights’ place atop the MIAA at 11-0 overall with five conference matches left until the MIAA Tournament.

St. Mary’s entered the match at 6-4 in conference, good enough for third overall. Calvin took the first set by ten points and the second set by seven points. St. Mary’s took an early lead in the third set, but Calvin ended up sneaking away with a 25-22 point win to take the match.

Before facing St. Mary’s, Calvin also shut out Adrian College in straight sets. The sets were much closer in that match than previous ones.

Each set in the match was decided by no less than six points, reflecting the competitive nature of both teams.

“Adrian has been a really fun team to play and has given us great competition this year,” said sophomore Sarah DeVries. “We know we will be getting everyone’s best match, so we have to come ready to compete every time.”

Calvin, ranked 6th nationally, entered the match against Adrian with a five match winning streak. In mid-September, the team lost three matches at a tournament in Illinois, breaking their 8-0 undefeated record. The tournament ended on Sept. 16, and three days later the Knights began a new streak.

Calvin crushed Kalamazoo College in straight sets, building the foundation for their current winning streak.

Six matches and 20 sets later, Calvin is looking at the end of their schedule with high hopes. The team also recognizes that there is no easy competition, and they must enter every match prepared.

“I think that we need to come ready to play every team we face,” said Jr. Anna Kamp. “We will have some really strong competition in our Midwest Invitational this upcoming weekend and I’m excited for it!”

The team has plenty reason to be excited for the rest of their season. Not only have they proven themselves up until now to be the best team in the MIAA, they are also receiving individual honors.

Most recently, senior Jenna Lodewyk earned MIAA Specialty Specialty player of the week for her efforts Against Trine University, Olivet College, and Adrian.

Calvin is sitting at 15-3 overall, and are currently in place to finish first in conference. Hope College is second in the MIAA at 9-2.

Calvin’s next match will be a double-header against Kean University and Millikin University. The matches set the stage for the Midwest Invitational, which takes place over two days, this Friday and Saturday, Oct. 13 and Oct. 14, respectively. After four non-conference matches at the Midwest Invitational, Calvin will return home to play conference foe Alma College on Tuesday, Oct. 17 at 6:30 p.m.

Contributions from Purun Yeo.