by Eva Dean Folkert

Consistency and precision were the No. 7 Hope College volleyball team's mode of operation in its sweep of Alma College on Tuesday night. The Flying Dutch put up an impressive attack percentage of .375 and defeated the Scots, 25-14, 25-13, 25-13, at Alma.

It was the opening MIAA match for both teams. The victory gives Hope an overall record of 9-1 while Alma falls to 0-7.

The Flying Dutch never trailed in the first two sets and built large scoring margins early.

Though the Flying Dutch had to dig out of an early 6-2 deficit to the Scots in the third set, they gained traction when senior middle blocker McKenna Otto delivered one of her 11 kills to tie the score 6-6. From there, the Flying Dutch controlled the set's momentum the rest of the way.

Senior outside hitter Ana Grunewald of Grand Rapids, Michigan (East Grand Rapids), pictured, led Hope with 14 kills. And like Otto, she had few errors, too. Grunewald hit .440, committing just three on 25 attempts while Otto committed two errors on 21 attempts to hit .429. The Flying Dutch had eleven attack errors in the entire match. 

Senior setter Tracy Westra of Clarendon Hills, Illinois (Timothy Christian) delivered 41 assists while sophomore libero Maggie Wehrmeyer of Holland, Michigan (West Ottawa) led Hope with 15 digs. Westra's assists were just five fewer than the three-set record (46) held by Greer Bratschie in 2010.

The Flying Dutch travel to Saint Mary's College for their second league match on Friday, Sept. 24. Start time is 7 p.m.