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 Calvin won the first two sets 25-18, 25-18 before Millikin rallied
to win the third set 25-22. Calvin closed out the match with a 25-14
win in the fourth set.
Junior Erin Syversen (Pewaukee, Wis., Waukesha West H.S.) led
Millikin with 20 kills and a .314 hitting percentage. Syversen added
seven digs. Alora Goodey (Lincoln, H.S.) had eight kills and three
blocks and Kelsey Talkington (North Aurora, Aurora Central Catholic
H.S.) added seven kills with three blocks. Emily Seegmiller (Arthur,
Arthur Lovington Atwood Hammond H.S.) had six kills. Emily
Mihalkanin (Willowbrook, Hinsdale South H.S.) had 41 set assists and
four kills. Cassidy Kingery (Heyworth, H.S.) had a team high 18 digs
and Meredith Artime (Forsyth, Decatur Christian H.S.) added 12 digs.
After the final match, Syversen and Kingery were named to the Calvin
Regional All-Tournament Team.
Millikin ends the season at 28-12. Calvin improves to 30-1 and
advances to the NCAA Elite Eight.
Millikin advanced to the Regional Final with an upset win over sixth
ranked Wittenberg University 3-2 on November 11.
 Millikin won the first two sets 25-14 and 25-20, but the Tigers
rallied to win the next two 25-16 and 25-19.
The fifth set featured a wild finish with Millikin staying alive on
match point six straight points to win 19-17. Millikin led midway
through the set 8-6 before Wittenberg scored six straight points to
go up reach match point at 14-8. Millikin then scored six straight
to stay alive and tie it at 14-14. After Wittenberg went up 15-14,
Syversen had two straight kills for Millikin to put the Big Blue up
16-15. A kill from the Tigers’ Emily Kahlig made it 16-16. Syversen
answered again for Millikin with a kill to put the Big Blue up
17-16. A Millikin service error tied the match at 17-17. Wittenberg
couldn’t capitalize on the miscue recording their own service error
to put the Big Blue up by one. An attack error by Wittenberg’s
Maddie Fischer gave the Big Blue the 19-17 win and sent them to the
Regional Final.
Syversen led Millikin with 24 kills, 14 digs and four service aces.
Seegmiller finished with 14 kills. Cortney Bohn (Mahomet, Mahomet
Seymour H.S.) had 11 kills. Talkington added eight kills and Goodey
had six. Mihalkanin had 53 set assists. Kingery had a team high 27
digs. Artime had 12 digs.
In its opening NCAA match, Millikin knocked off #22 Ohio Northern.
Millikin won the first set 25-12 with Talkington leading the way
with four kills. Ohio Northern then regrouped and took the second
set 25-19. Millikin answered with a 25-20 win in set three to go up
2-1. The fourth set was an epic battle with Millikin pulling away to
a 21-15 advantage. Behind the serving of Megan Nieszala the Polar
Bears scored nine straight points and 10 of the last 11 points to
win 25-22. Nieszala had two service aces during the run.
The fifth set was another battle to the end with Millikin winning
17-15. A block by Mihalkanin and Goodey made it a 12-10 Big Blue
advantage, but Ohio Northern battled back to tie the set at 12-12.
Syversen’s kill made it 13-12 Millikin. A kill from Haley Potters
tied the game at 13-13. Syversen then put the Big Blue ahead with a
kill, but the Polar Bears tied the match at 14-14. After a Millikin
error gave the Polar Bears the lead, Cortney Bohn tied the game for
Millikin with a kill. An Ohio Northern attack error made it 16-15
Big Blue and Goodey ended the match for Millikin with a kill.
 Syversen led Millikin with 18 kills, 21 digs and four service aces.
Goodey had 15 kills and four blocks. Talkington had 11 kills and one
ace. Seegmiller added 10 kills. Mihalkanin had 58 set assists, 11
digs and four service aces. Kingery had a team high 47 digs. Artime
had 17 digs and two aces.
Millikin Wrestlers Earn Two First Place Finishes at Millikin Open
The Millikin wrestling team scored two first place finishes and four
second place finishes at the six team 2016 Millikin Open held on
November 12 at the Griswold Center in Decatur, Illinois. In the open
format no team scores were kept.
Two Millikin freshmen won their weight classes with Randle Taborn
(Springfield, H.S.) finishing first at 149 and Andrew Wise (Mount
Carmel, H.S.) winning the 197 pound class. Taborn won all four of
his matches by technical fall winning the Championship Match 18-0
over Elijah Dunn of Lincoln College. Wise went 3-0 on the day
winning his First Place match 3-2 over Ethan Beniot of Augustana
College. Sophomore Alan Durham (Oak Forest, McKendree University)
went 3-1 at 141 pounds winning by fall, by major decision and by
decision. Durham lost the Championship Match 16-6 (MD) to Christian
Kanzler of Lincoln.
Noah Justi (Pekin, H.S.) went 2-1 in route to a second place finish
at 157. Justi won by fall and by decision before dropping the First
Place match 2-0 to Ty Ethridge of Lindenwood-Belleville.
[to top of second column] |
Sophomore Keajion Jennings (O’Fallon, H.S.) won three matches by
fall before losing the Championship Bout to Logan Hagerbaumer of
Lincoln.
Frank Tomaskovic (Oak Lawn, St. Laurence H.S.) went 3-1 at 285
pounds. His only loss was in the final round losing 5-3 to Adarios
Jones of Augustana.
Three Big Blue wrestlers finished in third place. Zach Whitsel (Oreana,
Argenta-Oreana H.S.) went 5-1 to finish in third at 125. Sam Lack
(Champaign, Centennial) went 3-1 and was third at 157 and R.J.
O’Connor (Trinity, Fla., Gulf H.S.) went 3-1 to finish in third at
165.
Millikin will be back in action on November 19 hosting the Millikin
Duals at Decatur MacArthur High School starting at 11 a.m.
Millikin Football Loses to Illinois Wesleyan University
The Millikin football team closed out the 2016 season with a 24-13
loss to Illinois Wesleyan University on November 12 at Frank M.
Lindsay Field in Decatur, Illinois. Millikin finishes the season at
4-5, 3-5 while Illinois Wesleyan ends their campaign at 7-2, 6-2.
Trailing 17-0, Millikin got on the board in the third quarter. Nicco
Stepina (Casey, Casey Westfield H.S.) connected on a two yard
touchdown pass to Gerald Perry (Memphis, Tenn., Whitehaven H.S.)
make it 17-7. The scoring play was set up by a 72 yard Stepina to
Perry pass play that took the ball to the Titan 12 yard line.
The Big Blue kept fighting scoring on a 37 yard pass from Stepina to
Jordan Smith (Shelbyville, H.S.) to make it 24-13 with 3:28 left in
the game.
Stepina was 22-41-1 passing for 309 yards and two touchdowns. Perry
had 12 catches for 177 yards.
Senior Mykal Neal (Broadview, Nazareth Academy) led the Big Blue
with 12 tackles and a forced fumble. Freshman Daniel Jackson (St.
Louis, Mo., University H.S.) had 11 tackles. Senior Danny Beresky
(Mapleton, Peotone H.S.) had eight tackles and one interception.
Swimming Recap
In their second home meet of the season, the Millikin Big Blue
hosted a double dual featuring first-year program Anderson
University and Quincy University (women only). The Big Blue men
completed an 11 event sweep over Anderson, with the final score of
116—35. The Millikin women fell to Quincy 117-68 and to Anderson
96-93. Quincy also defeated Anderson 135-60.
On the women’s side, junior Felicity Speirs (Lake Stevens, Wash.,
H.S.) took home second in the 1000 Freestyle with a time of
11:58.89, and third in the 100 Backstroke in 1:14.66. Sophomore
Caroline Lodovisi (Crown Point, Ind., H.S.) placed second in the 200
freestyle in a season best time of 2:07.27, and was victorious in
the 100 Butterfly with another season best time of 1:02.32. Junior
Sami Battle (Odell, Pontiac H.S.) was a double event winner, taking
first in the 50 freestyle in a season best time of 24.83, and the
100 Freestyle with a time of 56.49. Sophomore Brooke Brasile
(Woodstock, H.S.) placed third in the 200 IM with a time of 2:49.14.
The Millikin foursome of Battle, Speirs, Brasile, and Lodovisi
combined to finish second in the 400 Freestyle Relay with a time of
3:58.93.
In the men’s competition, the Big Blue foursome of Eric Curtis (Pekin,
H.S.), Matthew Vangunten (East Peoria, H.S.), Cameron Lee (Everett,
Wash., H.S.), and Cole Jones (Waverly, Mo., Santa Fe H.S.) was
victorious in the 400 Medley Relay in a time of 4:02.46. The
freshman Curtis was also a winner in the 1000 Freestyle, coming home
with a time of 11:50.45. Junior Spencer McGowan (Morton, H.S.) was a
double event winner, claiming first in the 200 Freestyle with a
season best time of 1:54.38, and the 100 Backstroke with a time of
58.57. Senior Tyler Via (Honolulu, Hawaii, Maryknoll H.S.) claimed
the victory in the 50 yard freestyle in a season best 24.72. Senior
Patrick Lewellyan (Naperville, Benet Academy) won the 200 IM with a
time of 2:17.84. Vangunten finished first in the 100 Butterfly with
a time of 1:02.18. Jones took first in the 100 Freestyle with a
season best time of 52.34. Lee edged out Curtis to win the 500
Freestyle with a time of 5:25.26, with Curtis finishing at 5:26.35,
both of which were season best times. Lewellyan narrowly out-touched
his teammate Vangunten to take the 100 Breaststroke with a time of
1:06.58. The Big Blue finished out the meet with the group of Jones,
Lewellyan, Lee, and McGowan swimming a 3:34.74 in the 400 Freestyle
Relay.
[Bryan Marshall] |
