Monthly Archive for February, 2008

Post-Season, pre-season, everything…..and some scoreboard watching

Published on February 28, 2008 in Uncategorized. Closed

Thursday afternoon. Busy getting ready for basketball tonight with a multitude of other events happening.

John Slegers is on his way to Morningside in Sioux City to call the Dordt-Morningside women’s GPAC quarterfinals. Rematch of Saturday’s game won by Morningside 72-70. Defenders will probably be without Betsy Van’t Hul because of an injury suffered on Tuesday night in the Briar Cliff win. It will take a monumental effort by the Defenders to knock off the #2 team in the country–we’ll see. Dordt has been playing really well as of late.

Defender men play Briar Cliff tonight…we’ll get to the play by play of that one as soon as the women’s game has reached it’s conclusion. Seems like we’ve seen no one but Briar Cliff as of late. Played them on February 2 and then again eight days ago. 4-5 matchups in the tournament usually produce pretty good matchups.

Track and field team is getting ready for the national meet next week. Jen Kempers will high jump and will pick from the 800, 1000 or mile to compete in as she qualified in all three. She’ll also run in the 4 x 800 that qualified early in the year. The men’s 4 x 800 also qualified at the GPAC championships…..talking to the coaches they feel the men will have to shave a few more precious seconds off their season best to make the finals…..same is probably true for the women.

Softball travels to Olathe, Kansas this weekend for a tournament hosted by MidAmerica Nazarene–it’s near Kansas City. Baseball team is also getting itchy–sounds like they will get a couple of games in on Saturday……somewhere……I don’t think they care at this point, they just want to play a game or two. Both teams go to warm climates over spring break to get several games in.

Volleyball, yes volleyball, is into their spring ball. They’ll play in some Saturday tournaments and then put it away till August.

I’ve fielded a ton of questions about the post-season in basketball–speaking in terms of the national tournament here. 22 bids are allotted based on automatic qualifying procedures out of conferences. Conferences are awarded bids based on size. The GPAC, for instance, with 12 NAIA schools, gets two bids and they get to decide how they are awarded. Still using the GPAC as the example, their bids go to the regular season champ (Morningside) and the post-season tournament champion (unknown at this point). If Morningside wins the tournament the second bid goes to the tournament runner-up. The Dakota Athletic Conference, with 8 teams, gets one bid and their’s will go to the post-season tournament champion.

That’s 22 bids. The College of the Ozarks gets a host berth because, well, they host the tournament. They do have to finish .500 to get the bid–something that hasn’t been a problem as of late, in fact they won the tournament in 2006. Still with me? Here’s where it gets tricky. There are nine at-large bids. These go to the top-nine ranked teams that haven’t qualified through their tournament or the host bid.

So, as teams win their conference tournaments and earn automatic berths through their conference, I scratch them off the rankings to see where the break falls. Right now, as of this very moment, there are 14 automatic berths to be determined–several of which will be taken by ranked teams. The break for at-large bids then right now is at #15–all this means is that at this point there are six teams above #15 who have earned automatic berths. Dordt’s on the bubble at this point and we’ll watch with great interest as, hopefully, ranked teams hold up during conference tournaments and that line keeps going further and further down the top-25 rankings. Dordt is #23 by the way and if you’re wondering, they were #24 when they qualified in 2006. Scoreboard watching becomes a serious part of my job right now.

Till after the games……………..

Close but….

Published on February 24, 2008 in Uncategorized. Closed

no victory cigars on Saturday for the Defenders.

Good showing by both teams. Women hung around and behind a spirited effort by Kara Karlsgodt, took a lead late in their game with the GPAC champion Morningside Mustangs. Morningside scored the last four points of the game to win….Dordt had a shot at the end of regulation by Kate Du Mez that was too strong and Morningside survived the upset bid. Morningside entered the week #3 in the country and will probably move up to #1 after beating Northwestern, the #2 team on Wednesday night.

The Defender men lost a gut-wrencher. Trailed by 15, stormed back for a seven point lead with 2:50 left but Morningside was able to tie the game at 70-70 at the end of regulation on a three-pointer after a time out with :04.6 left. Went to overtime and the Defenders didn’t convert a shot in the closing seconds with the score tied and went to a second overtime where Dordt made a defensive stop with about :15 left and Eric Van Maanen streaked down the court and had a sure lay-up wiped out, literally, when he slipped on a wet spot on the floor going in for a layup. That said, Dordt still had a shot to tie it and send it to a third overtime but a shot in the lane refused to go in and Morningside wrapped up the GPAC title outright.

For both Dordt teams the best thing we can say is, that isn’t the end of the season. The women host Briar Cliff on Tuesday at 7:30. The men have the #4 seed and hold a first round bye and will play the Briar Cliff-Midland Lutheran winner on Thursday at 7:30. Time to regroup and get ready for the “second season”.

We’ll begin to watch the automatic berths and see where the at large bids fall as well. Last ranking of the season for both the men and women will be voted on Monday-Tuesday and released on Wednesday. I will say this…..lots of teams in the top-25 in men’s basketball lost.

Track and field ran at the GPAC championship meet on Saturday. Jen Kempers won the mile–outdueling Oliva Johnson from Norhtwestern by less than a minute. Kempers took second in the 800 meters. Her time in both events was good for automatic qualification at the national meet where she had already qualified in the 1000 meters and the high jump. We’ll get the particulars of all the qualifying events on our athletic site on Monday. Men’s 4x 800 had a breakthrough time and got their ticket punched for nationals as well.

Hockey continues to prepare for their national tournament berth in mid-March. Bracket has been released. One notable in the tournament along with Dordt………Calvin. I’ll get those particulars to you on Monday as well.

Dordt vrs Calvin in hockey………that would be something

Upon Further Review….

Published on February 22, 2008 in Uncategorized. Closed

I messed up in my previous blog when talking about women’s scenarios…..Briar Cliff actually has the tie-breaker on Sioux Falls in womens’ basketball, so, if those two teams end up tied for 9th it will Briar Cliff as the 9th seed and Sioux Falls would be then 10th seed. Lots of twists and turns to keep track of as the 18-game season winds down…….

Notes from the Arctic

Published on February 21, 2008 in Uncategorized. Closed

No, it isn’t as bad as yesterday, never thought 20 degrees would feel so good.

Ventured to Sioux City for the Dordt-Briar Cliff basketball games on Wednesday. Former Dordt women’s basketball coach Glenn Bouma rode along–first time he’s travelled with me this winter. Put on a lot of miles with him the last six years when he was coaching and I always enjoy hearing his perspective on basketball and other topics.

Anyhow, the women’s team got a one point win, coming from behind to secure it. Kelsie De Nooy had a big night–knocked down some mid-range jumpers and Kate Du Mez got some points for the Defenders and all of Amber Soodsma’s buckets were big. Game ended on a down note for Briar Cliff when Cat Nelson, their leading active scorer went down in a heap when she tried to plant and shoot a long three-pointer. She was able to generate no power on her shot…..I’m no doctor, but it didn’t look good to me.

Out of the frying pan and into the fire for the Defenders as they face the Morningside Mustangs on Saturday in Sioux City. Morningside secured the number one seed in the post-season tournament with a two point win over Northwestern. The oddity of the GPAC schedule is that the two powers meet only once this season in conference play.

The Dordt men used a stifling defense in the first half and built up a 15 point lead at halftime and never trailed by less than eleven in the second half. Eric Van Maanen was hot–hitting six three pointers for 24 points. Dordt got up 60-34 early in the second half and held the hosts off the rest of the way. Good win for Dordt on the road–11-2 now since the first of the year.

Here are the playoff scenarios for the women. Dordt is in 8th place with a game lead on Briar Cliff and Sioux Falls. Dakota Wesleyan hosts Sioux Falls on Friday night. A DWU win gives Dordt 8th place and a home game against the 9th seed–either Sioux Falls or BriarCliff. A win by Sioux Falls and a loss by Dordt puts the two in a tie giving Sioux Falls the tie-breaker by virtue of their two wins over the Defenders this season. A win by Dordt gives them 8th place. Briar Cliff really doesn’t figure in because they don’t have the tiebreaker on either team.

Now , on to the men, and if you think the womens’ scenario was complicated….stop reading now. Dordt is in 3rd place right now, a game behind Northwestern and a game in front of Dakota Wesleyan.Dordt cannot finish worse than fourth and no better than second. Dordt finishes second with a win and a Northwestern loss to Briar Cliff. Dordt finishes third with a Northwestern win and a Dordt win. Dordtcan sew up at least third as well with a Dakota Wesleyan loss to Sioux Falls on Friday night. Dordt finishes fourth if they lose and Dakota Wesleyan wins by virtue of the tiebreaker going to Dakota Welseyan because of their win over Morningside in the only meeting of the two teams. Clear as mud? I thought so… Bottom line, the Dordt men will host a game Thursday night of next week as either the second, third or fourth seed. Women will either play at home on Tuesday or take to the road as the 9th seed.

GPAC track championships are set for Saturday. The event is always hosted now in Lincoln at the De Vaney Center. A wild day to say the least….Taking a look at the times there are some outstanding athletes in this conference.

Hockey….don’t know much more than I did on Monday. The Blades play in Rochester, Minnesota on March 12-15 in the ACHA DivisionIII hockey national tournament. It’s a 16 team tournament and they will play out all 16 places. I hope to talk to coach VN in the next day and should have some more information for you at that point. Four games in four days…that will be a challenge.

Time to go feed the sled dogs for my trip to work in the morning…………….

Upset Special

Published on February 17, 2008 in Uncategorized. Closed

The upset many of the Dordt College women’s basketball followers thought the Lady Defenders had in them finally happened on Saturday at the De Witt. Dordt led almost start to finish in beating the #10 ranked Concordia Bulldogs by an 80-72 decision.

Everyone who played in this one had a hand in the biggest win of the year for the Defenders. McKinzie Schmidt had 21 points and Kate Du Mez had 15–most notably she had two three-pointers at the beginning of the second half to help Dordt stretch the lead to 19. Dordt then managed to piece things together in the final minutes as they lost four players to foul trouble….credit the coaching staff for keeping the women focused as Concordia went to the free throw line 43 times. All totalled 82 free throws were shot in the game.

Bottom line, great win…now it’s time for Briar Cliff.

Oddly, Briar Cliff picked up a win without playing a game on Friday–received word that Midland Lutheran had used an ineligible player in their conference win over Briar Cliff, so, that loss becomes a win and the game on Wednesday night in Sioux City will go a long ways in determining who will hold the #8 seed in the post-season tournament which begins on Tuesday, February 26.

The Dordt men bounced back from their loss on the road Wednesday with a 12-point win over Concordia on Saturday. Dordt pounded the ball inside early and got a season high 28 from Logan Kingma and 17 from Brian Eekhoff. Defenders are now 18-8. Never led by less than 10 in the second half.

Received word on Sunday that the Dordt Blades hockey team has earned a berth in the ACHA Division III national tournament. The Blades went 2-0 in Oakland, Californiawith a 6-0 win over a team from UC Davis and a 4-0 on Saturday over the University of Wyoming. Congrats to the Blades and coaches on this accomplishment. Nationals is in the middle of March in Rochester, Minnesota.

Monday night Western and Unity meet in a girls basketball regional championship…rematch of a game from earlier this season won by Unity in Hull. Game will be played at 7:00 at MOC Floyd Valley high school….no predictions, I’ve got friends on both benches, just hope it’s a well played game where both teams can show what they’ve got…..boys tournaments should be back on schedule after horrendous weather last week.

Now, where’s that jack and spare tire (see previous blog)……………

You Dance too close to the fire….

Published on February 14, 2008 in Uncategorized. Closed

you’re going to get burned. After living dangerously for a couple of weeks and just barely winning some games the Defender men lost an overtime game to Mount Marty in Yankton, South Dakota. Had to put together one of the most incredible comebacks I’ve ever seen to get it to overtime tied 75-75. Russ Griese was lights out with 19 points–17 of them in the final three minutes and Dordt was helped by the Lancers’ inability to make free throws. Alas, it wasn’t enough. In fouling to get the ball back the Defenders lost three regulars and with a lineup that was makeshift, couldn’t hold on to a one point lead at the midpoint of the overtime in falling 86-81.

Women started slowly and never got on track until it was too late. Made the game respectable but fell by a final score of 70-57. Dordt got ten points each from Kate Du Mez, Abbie Soodsma and Besty Van’t Hul.

Next up, Concordia.

Dordt’s ranked #15 in the men’s poll this week and Morningside is still #1.

A long night was made even longer when Josh Klaassen (one of Dordt’s trainers) and myself had a tire blowout on the car we were travelling in. Nothing like changing a tire in the snow and cold at 11:15 at night with a trainer’s pen light and cell phones providing just enough light to make sure we got the tire changed. This is what memories are made of………whatever, I think it just added insult to injury……………..

The Dog Days of Winter

Published on February 11, 2008 in Uncategorized. Closed

I know, you normally associate the dog days with August when summer begins to stretch out but sometimes I get that feeling in February. The basketball season has been going for over three monts of games and nearly four months of practice–in fact Midnight Madness was in mid-October. The challenge for coaches and players now is to push through these final two weeks, stay focused and finish the season strong.

The men’s basketball team plays two games in the GPAC this week after living on the edge again on Saturday. The Defenders beat a big, strong Hastings team that came back from a 50-36 deficit to tie the game on a tip in at the end of regulation. The Defenders re-grouped and scored the first points of overtime and never trailed in the extra session for their fourth win in a row and their 17th of the season. Logan Kingma had a huge game on a tender ankle with 19 points and 12 rebounds. A couple reserves, Chad Huenink and Mark Rowenhorst also played huge roles in the win with Huenink scoring 12 points and grabbing six rebounds–five of them offensive and Rowenhorst played extensive minutes with Michael Eekhoff saddled with foul trouble most of the game. At Mount Marty and home with Concordia this week. Every game carries post-season implications at this point with three teams–Dakota Wesleyan, Northwestern and Dordt all sitting with three losses in the league and Morningside is atop the league with one loss. By the way, Dakota Wesleyan and Northwestern play this Wednesday in Orange City.

The women are still fighting for the eighth spot in the GPAC which would give them a home game in the post-season tournament first round….otherwise you go on the road. The Defenders, along with Sioux Falls, Dana and Briar Cliff all have four wins and are locked in that fight for the eighth spot. Mount Marty, whom Dordt plays this Wednesday, has recovered from a 2-7 league start to win five in a row and are now on the brink of breaking into the top-five in the league with Doane faltering a bit and Dakota Wesleyan is 8-7 in the conference with games left at Northwestern and Briar Cliff and a home game with Sioux Falls.

The Dordt Blades take part in the ACHA Regional Hockey Tournament this Friday in Oakland, California. The eight-team tournament concludes on Saturday. The Blades face UC-Cal Davis at 9:30 in the morning on Friday and will find out their Saturday assignment late in the day on Friday. The top two finishers advance on to the national tournament in Rochester, Minnesota.

Baseball season is scheduled to open February 16…………as the snow continues to fly………we’ll see.

Almost Forgot

Published on February 7, 2008 in Uncategorized. Closed

The rankings for basketball are out this week.

Men’s basketball hasMorningside at #1 and Dakota Wesleyan is #8. Keep in mind the votes were tabulated before games on Wednesday, February 6. Dordt jumped from #25 to #18 while Northwestern fell ten spots to #19. Briar Cliff is receiving votes. Also of note…William Penn is #6, Bellevue is #9, Valley City State is up to #12. Jamestown is also receiving votes.

In women’s basketball Northwestern is #2, Morningside #3, Hastings #6, Concordia #9 and Doane #24. Dakota State, whom Dordt played earlier this season, is ranked #11.

Pretty good small college basketball in the midwest..

Thursday, February 7

Published on February 7, 2008 in Uncategorized. Closed

Had a full schedule of GPAC games last night. Looks like Northwestern and Morningside are headed towards a winner takes the championship game on the women’s side of the standings….they play each other one time and that won’t happen till the end of the season. Right now the Defender women are in eigth place. Hanging on to eighth place would be a very good thing–it would give the women a home game at the start of the GPAC tournament. The Defenders have home games with nationally ranked Hastings and Concordia remaining mixed with road games at Morningside, Mount Marty and Briar Cliff. The game with Briar Cliff is pivotal because that is one of the teams right around Dordt in the standings.

The men’s race got muddied a bit last night. Dakota Wesleyan beat up on Morningside at the Corn Palace–been there, done that. Morningside now has a loss while Wesleyan, Dordt and Northwestern all have three losses. The remaining schedule for Morningside–Doane, @ Sioux Falls, @ Dana, Northwestern, Dordt. The remaining schedule for Dordt–Hastings, @ Mount Marty, Concordia, @ Briar Cliff, @ Morningside. Remaining for Dakota Wesleyan–Dana, @ Northwestern, @ Briar Cliff, Sioux Falls. Left for Northwestern–@ Concordia, Dakota Wesleyan, @ Doane, @ Morningside, Briar Cliff. Finally, laying back in the weeds is Briar Cliff with five losses…..they’d of course love to work into the top four and get a first round tournament bye and host a quarterfinal round. The Cliff has to play Sioux Falls, Dakota Wesleyan, Dordt and @ Northwestern. Not many easy ones for anyone remaining, that’s why it is a great time of the year.

Eric Van Maanen is closing in on 1000 points–has 984 right now. That’s a lot of mid-range, pull-up jumpers. Has gotten the bulk of those points in his junior and senior year. Remember, he didn’t play a lot as a freshman. Speaking of milestones, Kate Du Mez is within five assists of the fifth best assist season for a Defender woman. Also of note, Scott Van Zanten and Chad Huenink are both chasing Scott’s dad, Denny for 20th on the all-time rebounding list at Dordt College–short by 16 rebounds right now.

Track team will send a few athletes to Storm Lake tomorrow for an invite. We’ll see if the 4 x 800 relay team for the men can get a national meet qualifying time. Conference meet is just a little over two weeks away….

Watch for meet the team info to go up in the next few days for baseball–taking pictures today. Tennis will happen here shortly as well. Fall schedules are starting to go up on the website as well..

Keep rolling with the punches……

And the Winner Is….

Published on February 4, 2008 in Uncategorized. Closed

Sioux City, Iowa. The city has been named the host site for the 2008 and 2009 NAIA national volleyball tournament. Here’s the press release put out by Great Plains Athletic Conference commisioner Corey Westra:


Sioux City to Host NAIA Volleyball Championship for 2008 and 2009

The City of Sioux City is proud to announce that the Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena and the

Long
Lines
Family
Recreation
Center have been selected by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) as the host for the 2008 and 2009 NAIA National Volleyball Championship(s).

The NAIA National Volleyball Championship will be a 24 team event, with nearly 400 participants, held December 2-6 in 2008 and December 1-5 in 2009. The 24 teams in
Sioux City will be selected from the final NAIA rankings and 12 first-round matches that will be played at campus sites across the country.

The 2006 and 2007 NAIA National Volleyball Championship were held in
Columbia, Missouri. The NAIA Volleyball Championship has also been held in San Diego, California; West Palm Beach, Florida; Kankakee, Illinois; and
Fresno, California, over the last ten years.

The NAIA National Volleyball Championship will be a pool play tournament to a quarterfinal bracket single elimination event featuring the top NAIA programs in the country. Fresno Pacific from California is the defending NAIA National Champion, National American from
Rapid City, South Dakota, claimed the 2006 title.

“We are excited to host another NAIA National Championship in
Sioux City,” said Corey Westra,Sioux City Sports Authority President and Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Commissioner. “We are proud the NAIA has given us this opportunity and know we will do our very best to host the student-athletes of the NAIA”. “This event will be very similar to the NAIA Division II National Basketball Championship and we can not say enough for how well that event has been embraced by the people of this community (and beyond),” added Westra.

“The NAIA Volleyball Championship is going to be an exciting event for the fans of the area and we optimistic that we can fill our venues with people and provide a championship environment for the players,” said Spero Vlahoulis, Sioux City Convention Center Project Manager.

”
Sioux City is proud to be home to another NAIA Championship,” said Denny Gann, Events Facilities Department Executive Director. “This is very important as we look to grow sporting events here in
Sioux City through our Sports Authority,” added Gann. “Sioux City has always had a special place for the NAIA and we look forward to hosting this event in December along with the NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball Championship for the 11th time and NAIA Wrestling Championship for a fourth time this March.”

The Sioux City Sports Authority along with the Sioux City Events Facilities Advisory Board (EFAB) submitted the bid to the NAIA based out of
Kansas City, Missouri. Representatives from the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC),
Briar
Cliff
University and

Morningside
College also assisted in the bidding process. The NAIA Volleyball Championship was awarded to
Sioux City after a successful site visit on Thursday, January 3.


Sioux City currently hosts the NAIA Women’s Division II National Basketball Championship (the event is under contract through 2009) and will host the NAIA Wrestling National Championships for a fourth and final time this March.
Sioux City has hosted the basketball tournament since 1998 and the wrestling tournament since 2005. The City has also hosted the NAIA Baseball World Series and Women’s Golf Championships.

 

National Qualifiers and more

The Dordt 4 x 800 meter relay team of Jen Kempers, Joy Horstman, Sierra Zomer and Tami Wieringa made the qualifying time in the event and will run at the NAIA nationals in early March while Kempers also made it under the required time in the 1000 meters.

 

The Dordt basketball teams took a sweep of Briar Cliff on Saturday. Women led basically from start to finish in taking their fourth win of the season in the GPAC and ninth overall. Ended up winning 69-54 with Kate Du Mez scoring 15 with nine assists and six steals.

 

Men won a heart stopper over the Chargers 66-64. Dordt trailed most of the game before Michael Eekhoff hit a lay up for Dordt’s first lead at 61-60. Scott Van Zanten then had a pair of crucial putbacks, the last with :06.6 left and made a free throw to give Dordt the two-point margin. Both Defender teams now have a little time to heal some injuries and get ready for Hastings on Saturday in Sioux Center.

 

A final note about Saturday…thought the crowd was great, stayed in it even when things weren’t going well and really came alive in the final eight minutes when Dordt came from eight points down. Trailed by 12 with ten minutes remaining mind you.

 

Eric Van Maanen continues to close in on 1000 points–has 986 currently while Chade Huenink and Scott Van Zanten both have 434 rebounds. 20th place all-time is occupied by Denny Van Zanten, Scott’s dad, with 451. Kate Du Mez is 27 points shy of 600 points which is where we start tracking positions in the Dordt women’s basketball program.

 

Enough for today………