by Dena Meiste

Down two sets against Calvin University, the Hope College volleyball team nearly pulled off a stunning come-from-behind victory in the MIAA Tournament finals on Saturday evening inside DeVos Fieldhouse. 

Ultimately the fifth-ranked Flying Dutch, who had won the two prior meetings against the Knights this season, would fall short of a third victory and suffered a five-set defeat. 

"That was just a battle," said head coach Becky Schmidt after the match. "Pretty typical in terms of how our matches have been going with Calvin lately, a defensive battle. Both teams have really powerful offenses that when we play each other get stifled."

The postseason continues next week with the opening rounds of the NCAA Div. III Championship. The 64-team bracket will be unveiled at 12:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 8 on NCAA.com. Hope will need an at-large berth after Calvin claimed the MIAA's automatic berth.

Calvin, No. 6 in the AVCA national rankings, won the first two sets 25-23, 25-20 to take firm control of the match. Although the Flying Dutch extended play with a 25-22 third-set triumph, Calvin appeared to be well on its way to victory with a 10-0 lead to open the fourth.

Hope pulled off a gritty comeback, chipping away at the lead until finally knotting the score at 21. With momentum decisively in their favor, the Flying Dutch won 25-23 to push the match to a deciding fifth frame.

Photo of McKenna Otto (11) and Rose Thompson (16) by Lynne Powe

The comeback bid was seemingly put to a halt when the Knights stormed out to a 9-2 advantage, but once again Hope threatened to pull off another improbable return. The Dutch got within as close as one point, 13-12, but Calvin would not be defeated a third time by Hope and clinched the match 15-12.  

"I am proud of the resiliency our team showed when they could have just felt it wasn't our night," Schmidt continued, "I am really proud of them for that."

Heidi Westra led Calvin by putting down 22 digs to go along with 27 digs.

Ana Grunewald (Grand Rapids, Michigan / East Grand Rapids) paced the Hope offense with 16 kills and four aces while picking up 13 digs on defense.

McKenna Otto (Wheaton, Illinois / Wheaton North) turned in 11 kills, followed by Molly Ligon (Beverly Hills, Michigan / Birmingham Seaholm) with 10.

Maggie Wehrmeyer (Holland, Michigan / West Ottawa) led all players with 35 digs. 

Tracy Westra (Clarendon Hills, Illinois / Timothy Christian) finished her night with 41 assists, 15 digs and four blocks.

Although Hope out-aced Calvin 10-5, the Knights had a stellar match from the service line, putting lots of pressure on the Hope passers throughout all five sets. 

"We can learn a lot from this game about what we need to work on. But we have to continue to never give up. That will give us an edge going forward,"  Grunewald said.