by Dena Meiste

The No. 6-ranked Hope College volleyball team came back from a 2-1 deficit to topple No. 4 Calvin University in five sets and snap the Knight's 14-match win streak. The Flying Dutch got a huge boost from sophomore libero Maggie Wehrmeyer, pictured right, who collected a program-record 44 digs.

Wehrmeyer, hailing from Holland (West Ottawa), shattered the previous dig record of 36, set by Jessica Maier during the 2012 season.

With the 25-21, 26-28, 19-25, 25-23, 15-12 win, Hope improves to 14-1 on the season while Calvin falls to 17-2. The victory is the Flying Dutch's 10th in-a-row this season and second in-a-row over Calvin as Hope beat its rival last spring in the MIAA Tournament final.

The contest was a non-conference match-up and did not count towards the MIAA standings. The rival programs face off in conference action on Saturday, Oct. 30 inside the DeVos Fieldhouse. 

Hope Volleyball Records for 25-Point Sets

Overall, the Flying Dutch out-dug the Knights, 91-81, and out-blocked the opponents by a 16-13 tally. 

Senior outside hitter Molly Ligon (Beverly Hills, Michigan / Birmingham Seaholm) led all players with 10 blocks.

Senior setterTracy Westra (Clarendon Hills, Illinois / Timothy Christian), pictured left, managed the Flying Dutch's well-balanced attach with 47 assists. Three hitters surpassed double-digit kill totals, including senior middle blocker McKenna Otto (Wheaton, Illinois / Wheaton North) with a team-best 16, followed by senior outside hitter Ana Grunewald (Grand Rapids, Michigan / East Grand Rapids) and Ligon with 15 and 10, respectively. 

Calvin was led by Heidi Westra, sister of Tracy, who led the match with 17 kills. 

"This was just one of those great Hope-Calvin volleyball battles. It was such an evenly matched match," said head coach Becky Schmidt. "Give a ton of credit to Calvin. They played hard and continued to use some of the weapons that they have developed some really good consistency with. Their servers put a lot of pressure on our passers."

Set one was anyone's for the taking, but tied at 19-19, the strong serving of senior defensive specialist Grace Pettinger (Mt. Vernon, Iowa / Mt. Vernon) sparked a timely 4-0 run to force the Knights to use both timeouts. Though the momentum would slow, it could not be stopped, and Hope won the first stanza, 25-21.  Otto tallied six kills on seven errorless swings to lead Hope's offense. 

Hope continued to control the tempo in set two, and up 16-12, the Flying Dutch appeared to be well on their way to a commanding two-set lead. The Knights then made a huge statement, changing the entire narrative of the match by fending off three set points to take a 25-24 lead. Instead of falling behind 2-0, the home team stole the second 28-26 and tied the match up at 1-1.

The Knights won the third 25-19 to pull ahead but were unable to close out the match as Hope sprinted out to an 11-9 advantage in the must-win fourth set situation. Although the Flying Dutch got a scare when Rose Thompson exited the match after coming down on her foot wrong, the senior re-entered the contest at set point and made the most of the opportunity when she teamed up with Charlotte Brecht (Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan / Grosse Pointe South) for the block to clinch the game at 25-23 and send the match to a fifth stanza. 

The Flying Dutch took the initial edge in set five, forcing Calvin to take its first timeout at 8-5. Hope's relentless defense continued to pay dividends on offense, and back-to-back kills from Brecht and Otto lifted the team ahead by five points, 12-7. The separation was too much for the Knights to overcome, as Hope clinched the set at 15-12 to take the match.