Story by Eva Dean Folkert/Photos by Lynne Powe

First, experienced and decorated veterans helped carry the No. 9 Hope College volleyball team to a Saturday morning win over Cornell College (Iowa), in four sets, 25-16, 24-26, 25-21, 25-22. Then, a full team of talent secured a Saturday afternoon sweep over Dominican University (Ill.), 25-15, 25-13, 25-13.

When the day, and the Hope Tournament, was done at DeVos Fieldhouse, the Flying Dutch had upped their record to 8-1 by going undefeated in its first home competition of the season.

Hope defeated Muskingum University (Ohio) in three sets as well on Friday.

Against Cornell (7-5), Hope faced fierce competition from an opponent that recorded two wins in the tournament the night prior. The Rams pushed and tested the Flying Dutch throughout the match, forcing Hope to find small openings in long rallies and resilience after losing the second set.

Though Hope dictated play for most of the first set, momentum was hard to come by for either team after that. Three-point leads were about the most either squad could accumulate at any one point and often those would evaporate when the other team would rally. But Hope used steady senior leadership from Ana Grunewald, McKenna Otto, Molly Ligon, Rose Thompson, Grace Pettinger and Tracy Westra to find its footing and walk away with a four-set win.

Outside hitter Grunewald (Grand Rapids, Michigan/East Grand Rapids) led Hope with 20 kills on a .349 hitting percentage while middle blocker Otto (Wheaton, Illinois/Wheaton North) led with a .366 hitting percentage on 18 kills. Setter Westra (Clarendon Hills, Illinois/Timothy Christian) recorded 50 assists while defensive specialist Pettinger (Mt. Vernon, Iowa/Mt. Vernon) tallied 16 digs. As for Ligon (Beverly Hills, Michigan/Birmingham Seaholm) and Thompson (Coopersville, Michigan/Unity Christian), they contributed timely attacks and contributed nine and 8 kills, respectively. 

"Cornell tested us in a lot of different ways, but I thought that our offense did a good job of mixing things up," said head coach Becky Schmidt. "Tracy did a great job of balancing our offense a little bit more and finding ways to be able to make more hitters successful. . . And I really thought that our passers did a really nice job putting us in good spots to be able to swing aggressively."

Against Dominican (2-8), 16 Hope players received playing time and offensive efficiency was Hope's hallmark on another well-balanced attack that saw only nine hitting errors. Juniors Charlotte Brecht and Emma Post went 1-2 in kills with 10 and eight, respectively. More tellingly, Brecht hit .667 while Post swung at .538.

From the service line, the Flying Dutch tallied 14 aces against the Stars. Otto led with four aces against Dominican and three against Cornell.

"I appreciate the work ethic of my entire team, and we were able to get some (more players) in and they really shined," Schmidt added. "I thought they all did a great job of keeping their foot on the gas and putting pressure on Dominican."

Hope opens MIAA play on Tuesday, Sept. 21 at Alma College. Match time is 6:30 p.m.