By Carter Collins '17

The Hope College women's tennis team completed an undefeated run through conference play on Saturday, defeating Adrian 9-0 at home.

The 21st-ranked Flying Dutch won all 72 flights they played against MIAA competition this spring.

Interim head coach Nate Price thought his team came into the regular-season finale with the right mindset.

"I thought our team did a great job of playing within themselves, which in a match like this is key," Price said. "They don't need to do anything extra."

Senior Nancy Benda of Birmingham, Michigan (Seaholm HS) won her match and enjoyed the support given to her and fellow senior Christin Drozd of Allegan, Michigan (Allegan) on Senior Day.

"It was fun tennis. The girl I was playing was a good player and a really nice girl," Benda said. "We had a lot of friends and family out to support us today, so that was awesome."

Hope finished 8-0 in Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association play, the fifth time in six years the team has gone undefeated in the MIAA. The Flying Dutch have lost just one conference match in that timespan.

Coach Price felt the credit should go to the team's players and previous coaches.

"This team is really easy to coach – we're very strong at every spot, which is nothing I did, that has more to do with recruiting by previous coaches," Price said. "I'm just kind of steering the ship at this point."

"Our strength builds momentum even when we're in a tight match – as soon as we wrap up the team match, there's confidence gained in all the other spots."

Benda felt that team cohesion has been important for the team.

"We have a lot of young talent as well as strong returners. It's been a team effort," she said. "We've really worked well together and I think that's been the biggest factor in our success."

Next up for the Flying Dutch is the MIAA Tournament. They will host Saint Mary's on Thursday in in a 4 p.m. semifinal. Second-seeded Calvin hosts Kalamazoo in the other semifinals. Winners meet on Friday at the site of the highest remaining seed to play for a NCAA Division III Tournament berth.

Coach Price hopes to see the team hit its stride as they near the end of the season.

"In tournament play in particular, and hopefully beyond, we need to start trying to reach our peak," Price said. "We played really well in Madison, Wisconsin at the Midwest Invitational, and I'd like to try to start building up to that again as we head into the MIAA Tournament, and then hopefully beyond that into the NCAA Regional rounds."