by Alan Babbitt

Without one of its trusted seniors and down a set in the MIAA Tournament title game, the Hope College volleyball team never wavered.

The 16th-ranked Flying Dutch roared from behind for a 16-25, 28-26, 25-17, 25-16 victory at sixth-ranked Calvin University and captured their fourth MIAA Tournament championship.

It was a satisfying close to an unusual season, junior outside hitter Molly Ligon (Beverly Hills, Michigan/Birmingham Seaholm) said.

"We've sacrificed so much this season to be able to play and play for each other," Ligon said. "I think that just led us up to today. We just had fun playing."

Photo by Calvin University

Hope overcame an injury that sidelined senior setter Adair Cutler against third-seeded Albion College in Thursday's semifinals and top-seeded Calvin on Saturday. The Flying Dutch finished their spring season with a 9-1 record.

"We had a lot of motivation to play for Adair, the only senior who's not coming back next year," head coach Becky Schmidt said. "We wanted to play hard in a way that represents everything that she's given our program over four years."

The Flying Dutch drew on their mettle after leading just once during the first set, then facing set point again with a 24-22 Calvin lead. 

Hope reeled off three consecutive points to take the lead. On the third try to take the set, junior outside hitter Ana Grunewald (Grand Rapids, Michigan/East Grand Rapids HS) buried one of her season-high 18 kills for the match.

In the third set, the Flying Dutch took the set lead for good at 11-7 with a run of four consecutive points. In the fourth set, a run of five consecutive points put Hope in control with a 7-4 lead, and the Flying Dutch never trailed again.

"We knew coming into this match we were going to have to play our absolute best in order to come out of here with a win," Schmidt said. "The way we kind of turned it around in the middle of that first set — to start playing no hesitation defense, get into pursuit, and trust our training — we started to see that turn into some positive momentum that reflected into our attacking. As the attacking picked up, we started to see more confidence in regards to our blocking. 

"I'm just really, really proud of everybody on our squad."

Hope hit .252 as a team with 14 kills from junior middle hitter McKenna Otto (Wheaton, Illinois/Wheaton North) and nine from Ligon.

"We have a lot of different offensive weapons that can hit in a lot of different positions, which is unique," Grunewald said. "There's a lot we can do with the offense."

Junior setter Tracy Westra (Clarendon Hills, Illinois/Timothy Christian) directed Hope's attack with a career-high 44 assists. Westra usually shares the setter role with Cutler.

Sophomore middle hitter Charlotte Brecht (Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan/Grosse Pointe South) collected five kills and a game-high nine blocks. The Flying Dutch's 25 blocks were the second-highest total of the season.

Hope outdug Calvin, 72-62. Freshman libero Maggie Wehrmeyer (Holland, Michigan/West Ottawa) topped the Flying Dutch with a career-high 26 digs; junior defensive specialist Grace Pettinger (Mount Vernon, Iowa/Mount Vernon) added a career-high 20 digs.