With the Calvin Knight’s victory over the Washington-St. Louis Bears in the DIII championship match, the DIII season has successfully drawn to a close.
But, what is NCAA Division III, or DIII? There are 433 DIII women’s volleyball programs, spread all across the USA, and each school has some great volleyball being played there. DIII is by far the largest component of women’s college volleyball, larger than DI, DII, or NAIA. Straight from the NCAA website we read the following explanation:
“Division III institutions have to sponsor at least five sports for men and five for women, with two team sports for each gender, and each playing season represented by each gender. There are minimum contest and participant minimums for each sport. Division III athletics features student-athletes who receive no financial aid related to their athletic ability and athletic departments are staffed and funded like any other department in the university. Division III athletics departments place special importance on the impact of athletics on the participants rather than on the spectators. The student-athlete’s experience is of paramount concern. Division III athletics encourages participation by maximizing the number and variety of athletics opportunities available to students, placing primary emphasis on regional in-season and conference competition.”
2016 Calvin Women’s Volleyball Roster
| # | Name | Plays | Yr. | Ht. | Hometown |
| 1 | Keilahna Castillo | LB | So. | 5-4 | Grandville, Mich. |
| 4 | Rachel Herrera | DS | So. | 5-2 | Schererville, Ind. |
| 5 | Abby Gorter | OH | Fr. | 5-10 | Woodbury, Minn. |
| 6 | Sierra Jorritsma | RS | Fr. | 5-10 | Redlands, Calif. |
| 7 | Sarah DeVries | MH | Fr. | 6-2 | Grand Rapids, Mich. |
| 8 | Abby Moore | DS | Fr. | 5-6 | Fort Wayne, Ind. |
| 9 | Jenna Lodewyk | S | Jr. | 5-10 | Villa Park, Ill. |
| 10 | Kristen Vyletel | DS | Jr. | 5-7 | Ann Arbor, Mich. |
| 11 | Laura Danhoff | MH | Sr. | 6-2 | Willard, Ohio |
| 12 | Emily Blankespoor | DS | Jr. | 5-9 | Grand Rapids, Mich. |
| 13 | Megan Van Solkema | DS | Jr. | 5-7 | Escondido, Calif. |
| 14 | Tessa Van Laare | OH | Jr. | 6-1 | Toronto, Ontario |
| 16 | Kelly Bos | OH | Sr. | 6-0 | Grand Rapids, Mich. |
| 17 | Alyssa Scholten | OH | Jr. | 6-3 | Byron Center, Mich. |
| 18 | Jamie Petrarca | OH | So. | 6-1 | St. John, Ind. |
| 19 | Ally Fea | MH | Fr. | 6-2 | Mechanicsburg, Pa. |
| 20 | Dani Rae Wascher | OH | So. | 5-9 | Albuquerque, N.M. |
| 22 | Anna Kamp | OH | So. | 6-0 | Orland Park, Ill. |
| 23 | Jessica Jackson | OH | So. | 5-10 | Grand Rapids, Mich. |
- Head Coach: Dr. Amber Warners
- Assistant Coaches: Laura Bindon, Rey Castillo, Megan Rietema
- Student Assistant: Kielley Lemkuil
- Captains: Kelly Bos, Laura Danhoff, Jenna Lodewyk
- Athletic Trainers: Joe Dykstra, Kerrie Clausen, Meghan Glynn
Here’s links to some of the stories about the DIII Women’s National Volleyball Championship match.
From the NCAA DIII website, the boxscore for the match:
(http://www.ncaa.com/game/volleyball-women/d3/2016/11/19/washington-st-louis-calvin).
From the NCAA DIII website, an article about the ending of the DIII season with the final match:
Here’s an abstract of the final AVCA Poll for the 2016 DIII season. To see the final poll in its entirety, go to this link: (https://www.avca.org/polls/diii-women/11-22-2016.html).
| AVCA Rank |
School |
Conference |
Location |
2016 W-L |
|
1 |
Calvin Knights | MIAA | Grand Rapids, Michigan |
33-1 |
|
2 |
Emory Eagles | UAA | Atlanta, Georgia |
34-5 |
|
3 |
Washington-St. Louis Bears | UAA | St. Louis, Missouri | 27-4 |
|
4 |
Southwestern Pirates | SCAC | Georgetown, Texas |
26-7 |
|
5 |
Cal Lutheran Regals | SCIAC | Thousand Oaks, California | 33-6 |
|
6 |
Northwestern-St. Paul Eagles | UMAC | St. Paul, Minnesota |
28-6 |
|
7 |
Texas-Dallas Comets | ASC | Dallas, Texas | 27-5 |
|
8 |
Mary Washington Eagles | CAC | Fredericksburg, Virginia | 27-4 |
|
9 |
Colorado College Tigers | SCAC | Colorado Springs, Colorado | 29-7 |
|
10 |
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Athenas | SCIAC | Claremont, California |
27-11 |
|
11 |
Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawks | WIAC | Whitewater, Wisconsin | 34-5 |
|
12 |
Juniata Eagles | Landmark | Huntingdon, Pennsylvania | 31-4 |
|
13 |
Wittenberg Tigers | NCAC | Springfield, Ohio |
32-3 |
| 14 | Eastern Eagles | MAC | St. Davids, Pennsylvania |
25-6 |
| 15 | Hope Flying Dutch | MIAA | Holland, Michigan |
28-12 |
|
16 |
Trinity Tigers | SCAC | San Antonio, Texas | 22-6 |
| T17 | Millikin Big Blue | CCIW | Decatur, Illinois |
28-8 |
|
T17 |
Wisconsin-La Crosse Eagles | WIAC | La Crosse, Wisconsin | 23-4 |
| 19 | Elmhurst Bluejays | CCIW | Elmhurst. Illinois |
27-7 |
|
20 |
Tufts Jumbos | NESCAC | Medford, Massachusetts | 25-8 |
| 21 | Hendrix Warriors | SAA | Conway, Arkansas |
22-7 |
|
22 |
La Verne Leopards | SCIAC | La Verne, California | 23-6 |
| 23 | Wisconsin-Oshkosh Titans | WIAC | Oshkosh, Wisconsin |
27-8 |
|
24 |
Ohio Northern Polar Bears | OAC | Ada, Ohio | 32-6 |
| 25 | Wisconsin-Stevens Point Pointers | WIAC | Stevens Point, Wisconsin |
23-13 |
LET’S GROW VOLLEYBALL!
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