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Warriors Fall ’21 Men’s Basketball Update

Warriors Fall ’21 Men’s Basketball Update

Warriors Fall ’21 Men’s Basketball Update

Athletic Director Jeanette Regier interviews Men’s Basketball Coach Matt Sanders on the highlights and difficulties of the Calvary University Warriors Fall 2021 Men’s Basketball Season as the team prepares for the remainder of the season in Spring 2022.
Coleson Voran Running at NCCAA National Meet

Coleson Voran Running at NCCAA National Meet

Coleson Voran is a Business Major (Sports Management Emphasis) at Calvary University, and he is excited see where the Lord directs him to go after his college experience is over.  He is now competing in his sophomore seasons as a cross country and basketball student athlete.  Today he represents Calvary University at The NCCAA National Cross-Country Meet in Joplin, MO. 

Coleson grew up in Alaska.  He was athletic as a child and loved running trails.  He ran his first race during 8th grade with the cross-country team at his school.  It was easy to do this because of the small school he attended and because the coach and runners on the team all knew his abilities.    His mother always encouraged him to run cross country and Coleson is grateful for that encouragement through the years.  He feels her encouragement is an important reason he is where he is today. 

He went on into high school and had a successful athletic career.  In cross country, a highlight for him was qualifying for the State Cross Country Meet as a Junior.  He finished 14th against a lot of big schools and had a personal record during that meet of 17:21 (5K).  He went on to finish a smaller State Cross Country Meet in 3rd place during his Senior season which was another highlight.    Coleson’s high school coach Hiedi Wilder was an impactful person in Coleson’s life.  She continues to be one of the hardest working women he knows.  She would always run with her teams and invested a lot of time and energy into building Coleson into the runner he is today.

After high school, Coleson was recruited to play basketball and felt God’s call on his life to attend Calvary University as a student athlete.  “Calvary has helped me to grow in the Lord,” stated Voran.  “This is where I will continue to Grow in Him.”  Coleson has been an integral part of the basketball team for two years now and loves everything about sports at Calvary.  He decided last year to become a dual sport athlete and to add Cross Country to his collegiate sporting goals because of the encouragement from his basketball  teammates.

He loves running cross country because of the simplicity of it.  “If runners work hard they will run faster,” stated Voran.   “Either a runner is mentally tough or not.”   Earlier this year his PR at the 8K distance was fast enough to qualify for the NCCAA National Cross Country Meet.  He will get to race against the fastest runners in the country at our level.  Coleson has been working hard with Calvary coach Tyler Cheslik to prepare him to run his best race.

Coleson is very clear about his goals for today.  He wants to represent Jesus Christ and show others that hard work pays off.  He wants to work as hard as he can and leave the results to God.  Coleson is grateful to have the opportunity to be the first cross country runner to ever compete in the NCCAA National Meet wearing a Calvary uniform.  “Representing Calvary University is a gift,” stated Voran.   “I love having the chance to get out there and rep.”

Coleson is thankful for his coach Tyler Cheslik.  “Tyler has his own racing goals, yet he is willing to sacrifice and to push me”, stated Voran.  “His sacrifice is making me better.” 

Coleson Voran is an outstanding student-athlete that is making an impact on our campus at Calvary in many ways!    Let’s Go Coleson!  #BattleTogether

Warriors Finish in Third

Warriors Finish in Third


The Warriors picked up a third-place finish in the MCCC Tournament this weekend as the team defeated Central Christian College 4-1 on Saturday afternoon in Ankeny, IA.   

“It’s good to get a win like this,” Warrior Head Coach Jayke Maples said. “We worked so hard this season and we truly have grown.” The Warriors came into the match on the heels of a heartbreaking 1-2 loss to the Faith Eagles in the conference semifinals yesterday.  As the team took the pitch against the Saints, they looked to get the 3rd place finish to finish their season on a positive note.

From the opening kickoff, the Warriors came out strong with good possession and passing which created lanes to score. The team was able to continually pressure the Saints net and broke into the scoring column when Cobi Keel buried an absolute screamer in the net from 25 yards out.


The Warriors continued to possess the ball well as they outshot the Saints by a substantial margin in the opening half. Despite all the chances to score, the Warriors couldn’t add to their lead, and they went into halftime up 1-0. 

In the second half, the Warriors came out looking to stretch their lead.  Jeovany Castillo found the ball on the right side of the box.  He took on a defender and rifled the ball across the six-yard line to find a sliding Bayron Mendez who found the back of the net to go up 2-0.   

Soon after that second goal, Keel played the ball to Mendez on the left and Bayron saw the open net and he tucked it away to secure his brace as CU went up 3-0. The Saints tried to claw their way back into the game and answered the Warrior goals with a nice goal off a deflection.  That was the last goal Calvary would allow, however.   The Warriors dug in their heels defensively as Kobe Borden played well on the backline to turn aside opportunities.

The Warriors weren’t quite done on the scoring side as the game was winding down.  Keel played a through ball in and found Wade Smith who finessed the ball past the keeper to secure his first career goal.  As a result, the Warriors came away with a 4-1 victory thanks to a great performance by the team. 

“I am grateful that God gave me a group of guys with coachable attitudes in my first season here”, stated Maples.  It has made the season so enjoyable.  They did everything I asked for and more.  We are building something special here and look forward with anticipation!”

Warriors Finish Fourth

Warriors Finish Fourth


The Warriors volleyball team looked poised to have a great opportunity to win third place in The MCCC Tournament earlier today as they took a 2-2 tie with momentum on their side into the 5th and deciding set.  The Bears had other plans as the team stormed back to win a five-set thriller 3-2 on Saturday afternoon in Joplin, MO.   With the loss, the Warriors fall to 13-12 on the season. 

“I want to give credit to Barclay as they battled back after we tied it 2-2, and played outstanding defense,” Warrior Head Coach Josh Johnson said. “They capitalized on our defensive lapses and gradually turned the final momentum of the match. Hopefully, we learned some important lessons from this loss as we continue our postseason.” 

The Warriors came into the match after going 1-1 in competition during the first and second rounds of the tournament.  They beat Faith in the quarter-finals in three straight and then gave the number one team in the nation Manhattan Christian College all they could handle in a closely contested 1-3 loss. 

The team struggled with fatigue today after the competitive and emotional matches from yesterday.  “Elle Davis brought great energy to us today,” stated Johnson.  We weren’t in sync early and when Elle brought that energy it gave us a chance.  Hannah and Leah really kept us in the game with their swings and fought to bring us energy as well.  We struggled more with serving than we did last night.”


Two players recorded double figures in kills.  Leah Grady led the way for the Warriors with 15 kills, four digs, and two blocks.  Hannah Davidson added 12 kills and 11 digs on the day.  Basia Nesbett-Tucker finished with 40 assists and Miriam McCubbin had 19 digs to anchor the defensive effort.

In the semi-final match Friday night, the Warriors got tremendous front-line offense.  Haley Arneson had eight kills and hit 47% during the match.  She added two aces and 15 digs on the evening.  Leah Grady finished with 15 kills and hit at a 36 percent clip.  Brianna Hanson added nine kills while hitting 22 percent. 

The Warriors travel North for the NCCAA North Regional Tournament next Friday and Saturday.  The winner of Regionals will punch their ticket to the National Tournament in Florida later in November.

Warriors Win Battle of Kansas City

Warriors Win Battle of Kansas City

The Warriors volleyball team had a strong showing on Graduate Recognition Night as they swept Kansas Christian College 3-0 in the Pyramid here in Kansas City.   With the win, the Warriors move to 1-0 on the season.

“It was a great team effort tonight,” Warrior Head Coach Josh Johnson said. “The whole team came out with belief and were ready to play.  Earlier they were able to beat us on the road and they have since added another fantastic player to their roster.  I was pleased with how we came out and how we got some good serving tonight.  Different people stepped up at different times for us to get the win tonight.” 


In the opening set, things were tightly contested on both sides.  KCC went up 19-21 before Elle Davis went on a short serving run to put Calvary up 22-21.  She then has a huge serve receive to help CU get the ball right back.  Haley Arneson finished the game serving with Leah Grady winning the final point with a huge swing in the middle. The final score of set one was 25-23.


In the second set, Arneson and Grady both went on great serving runs to put Calvary up 10-1.  CU kept a five-point lead throughout the entire set with Hannah Davidson leading the team on the attack and Miriam McCubbin providing much-needed back row stability. 

The Warriors were eyeing the sweep and it showed as they came out strong again to begin the third set.  Basia Nesbett-Tucker did a fantastic job of spreading the ball around and the CU hitters played almost error-free ball.  Calvary had five hitters hitting at least at a .18 clip with Grady leading all with a .353 average. 

“We recognized Leah Grady and Hannah Davidson tonight”, stated Johnson.  “It was a great time of celebration and seeing the work of the Lord in each of their lives.  We are so excited to see them be the young women He has called them to be.”


Warriors Get Big Victory in Joplin

Warriors Get Big Victory in Joplin

The Warriors picked up another conference win on the season as the team defeated Ozark Christian College 3-1 on Tuesday afternoon in Joplin. With the win, the Warriors improve to 3-3 in conference play.

“It’s good to get a win against anybody in our league because every game is tough,” Warrior Head Coach Jayke Maples said. “We were moving the ball pretty well and we’ve been working offensively, so to get three guys scoring goals was good for us.” 

As the team took the pitch against the Ambassadors, they looked to find some momentum heading into the conference tournament.  From the opening kickoff, the Warriors came out strong with good possession and passing which created lanes to score. The team was able to pressure the Ambassador net and broke into the scoring column when Cobi Keel found the ball wide open about 30 yds out and took a deep rip that was tucked nicely away in the top left corner of the net for a 1-0 lead. 

There was a questionable call after that goal that led to a back-post header from Ozark to tie the game 1-1.

Soon after, Bayron Mendez found the ball about 40 yds away with the keeper out.  He floated the ball over the keeper and into the right corner of the net for a 2-1 lead.  The Warriors continued to possess well as they outshot the Ambassadors in the opening half. Despite several additional chances to score, Calvary couldn’t add to their lead as they went into halftime up 2-1. 

In the second half, the Warriors came out looking to stretch their lead. Clay Williams chipped the keeper and beat a defender before he dribbled the ball into the goal to make the final score 3-1.  “We played really well defensively,” Warrior captain Aedan Wilson said. “We played tight, and our offense did a good job of finding passes around their defensive line.”


Next up, the Warriors travel to Ankeny for the MCCC Conference Tournament.