The 10th-ranked Hope College volleyball team faces Adrian College in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament for the sixth time tonight. The winner advances to Saturday's 7 p.m. championship match to play for an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Flying Dutch were the 2014 national champions.
Hope is trying to qualify for the MIAA Tournament championship match for the 10th time in a row and 13th overall. The streak dates back to the 2005 season.
Hope enters tonight's match with a 23-5 overall record. The Flying Dutch went 14-2 in MIAA play to earn the second seed for the league tournament. Adrian (14-12 overall) is the third seed after going 9-7 in MIAA play.
Hope is 5-0 all-time against Adrian in the Tournament. The Flying Dutch defeated Adrian in 2007 in four sets, 2006 in five sets, 2005 in five sets, 2004 in four sets and 2002 in three sets.
Hope is 23-13 all-time in MIAA Tournament matches. Alma is the only team besides Calvin to defeat the Flying Dutch in postseason play.
Hope is on a season-high, nine-match win streak. The Flying Dutch's last loss came on Wednesday, Oct. 14 in a 3-0 defeat at Calvin. The current streak started with four wins, including three against nationally ranked opponents, at the Midwest Tournament Calvin hosted on Oct. 16-17.
Hope is among the national leaders in several team categories. The Flying Dutch are third in kills per set at 14.06, fourth in assists per set at 20.46, ninth in team attacks per set at 39.49 and 54th in hitting percentage at .220.
Lauren Hazekamp leads the MIAA in assists per set at 10.56 and is ranked 19th nationally. She also tops the league with 1,003 assists and is ranked 53rd in Division III. She also is second in the MIAA with a .302 hitting percentage.
Lauren Hazekamp is third in the Hope record books with 3,633 career assists in 370 sets played. She needs nine to pass Stephanie Poll (2004-06) for second all-time. The school record of 4,319 belongs to Andrea Helminiak (2009-09).
Lauren Hazekamp needs two digs to pass Sara DeWeerdt (2007-10) for 10th place in Hope's career leaders. Four more digs will move Hazekamp into ninth place past Nora Slenk (2005-08).
Sarah Feldpausch ranks second in the MIAA with 972 total kill attempts. She is fourth at 3.42 kills per set.
Allie Mitchell is third in the MIAA at 4.71 digs per sets and fourth with 154 total digs.
Head coach Becky Schmidt is in her 12th season with the Flying Dutch. She has guided Hope to a 20-win season for the 11th consecutive time. Her career record, including a stint at California (Redlands) is 363-111. Her record at Hope is 325-78.
Hope owns a 64-16 all-time record against Adrian, including two four-set wins this season. The Flying Dutch have beaten Adrian 16 consecutive times, a streak that dates back to the 2007 season. The Bulldogs won the first match that season in four sets.
On September 22, Hope beat Adrian 25-22, 25-20, 23-25, 25-13 at DeVos Fieldhouse. Haley Muller's 17 kills topped the Flying Dutch. Three others reached double figures: Sarah Feldpausch with 13, Paige Baker with 12 and Courtney Van Houzen with 11. Lauren Hazekamp collected a season-high 57 assists that was two off the school record for assists in a four-match match. Adrian picked up 14 kills from Jordan Brisson and 12 from Olivia Welch. Marisa Dion had 24 assists.
On October 23, Hope won at Adrian 25-14, 25-22, 26-28, 25-21. Sarah Feldpausch led the Flying Dutch with 18 kills, while Haley Muller and Courtney Van Houzen added 10 apiece. Lauren Hazekamp had 42 assists. Adrian received seven kills from Jordan Brisson and 20 assists from Marisa Dion.
