by Dena Meiste

The No. 7-ranked Hope College women's volleyball team earned a hard-fought victory on Saturday afternoon, edging No. 18 St. Benedict College in five sets. The Flying Dutch concluded the season-opening Gargoyle Classic with an unblemished 3-0 record. 

Hope won by set scores of 21-25, 25-20, 25-20, 20-25, 15-7, dropping the Bennies to 0-3. 

Setter Tracy Westra (Clarendon Hills, Illinois / Timothy Christian), pictured, turned in a triple-double performance with 11 kills, 41 assists and 12 digs. The senior hit for a blistering .712 average, with 11 of her 14 attacks going down for the point.

Sophomore libero Maggie Wehrmeyer (Holland, Michigan / West Ottawa) had herself a day defensively, denying the Bennies' attack with 27 digs to create offensive opportunities for the Flying Dutch.

Overall, four players reached double-digit kill totals for Hope. Senior outside hitter Ana Grunewald (Grand Rapids, Michigan / East Grand Rapids) paced the team with a season-best 14 kills, followed by senior McKenna Otto (Wheaton, Illinois / Wheaton North) with 12.  Otto, a middle blocker, wraps up the weekend averaging a team-leading 3.27 kills/set.

Senior outside hitter Rose Thompson (Coopersville, Michigan / Unity Christian) matched Westra with 11 kills, committing just two errors on 21 attempts.

The Flying Dutch got off to a flat start in the opening frame, playing catch-up in the early points before briefly overtaking the lead at 10-9. St. Benedict dished out a tough service game to reclaim the advantage and roll to a 25-21 win.  

Hope got back on track in set two, battling its way to a 9-9 tie before junior middle blocker Charlotte Brecht (Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan / Grosse Pointe South) took over defensively at the net. The junior first teamed up with Thompson to block the attack of McKenzie Galvin, before throwing the roof on Madelyn Gregory with the assistance of Otto. 

The two-point separation proved all the Flying Dutch needed, as they sided their way out to a 25-20 triumph. 

Hope continued to roll with the momentum in the third, scoring five unanswered points to break the tie and go out in front, 16-11. The team would take the set 25-20 for a 2-1 overall lead in the match.

Set four mirrored the third, with St. Benedict making the timely 5-0 run this time to take control of the frame. The Bennies clinched the win at 25-20 to force a match-deciding fifth set.

Unphased, the Flying Dutch stormed ahead to a 5-2 lead and force St. Benedict to use its first timeout. Hope remained aggressive on the attack and could not be stopped, hitting an imposing .611 with 12 kills and just a single error. With her fourth kill of the deciding game, Brecht clinched the set and match at 15-7.

The Flying Dutch continue tournament action next weekend with the MIAA-NCAC Battle at the Point on Sept. 10-11 at the Cedar Point Sports Center in Sandusky, Ohio.