by Alan Babbitt

Deficits don't seem to faze the fourth-ranked Hope College volleyball team.

The Flying Dutch trailed early in two sets but rallied to defeat Kalamazoo College, 25-13, 25-17, 25-23, on Friday at DeVos Fieldhouse.

Hope won for the 12th consecutive time while improving to 16-1 overall and 5-0 in MIAA play.

Head coach Becky Schmidt praised her team's determination after falling behind 6-0 in the first set and 12-4 in the third set.

"I liked our resiliency," Schmidt said. "(Kalamazoo) definitely brought a defense intensity and a strong block that made our hitters have to think a little bit more about what they were doing. I thought we didn't take as good of care of the ball as we needed to. Just too many errors and not enough attention to detail to execute the way we know how to.

"But I've got a lot of confidence in what this team can do, especially when our back is against the wall."

In the first set, Hope reeled off 10 consecutive points to take the set lead for good at 10-6.

In the third set, the Flying Dutch recorded 15 points in a row for a brief 17-16 lead. Hope then closed the match by scoring seven of the final nine points.

Junior middle blocker Charlotte Brecht (Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan / Grosse Pointe South HS), pictured top right, and senior middle blocker McKenna Otto (Wheaton, Illinois / Wheaton North) led a balanced Hope attack with seven kills apiece.

Junior outside hitter Emma Post (Hudsonville, Michigan Hudsonville) and senior setter Tracy Westra (Clarendon Hills, Illinois / Timothy Christian) contributed five kills apiece.

Westra also registered 31 assists.

Watch an interview with Tracy Westra

Hope returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 9, at the University of Chicago. The Flying Dutch play 11th-ranked Wisconsin-Eau Claire at 3:30 p.m. Central and 17th-ranked Chicago at 7 p.m.