The Hope College men's tennis team defeated Calvin University 5-0 on Thursday in the MIAA Tournament semifinals at Vande Poel-Heeringa Stadium Courts.

The Flying Dutchmen moved to 8-9 on the season.

This win is Hope's fourth consecutive postseason victory against the Knights.

The Flying Dutchment will travel to Kalamazoo College on Saturday, April 29, at a time to be announced to play in the MIAA Tournament championship match.

The senior-led squad started strong with hard-fought wins from senior Tyler Stafford (Grand Rapids, Michigan / Grand Rapids Christian) and senior Matt Henkel (Traverse City, Michigan / Traverse City Central), who together nabbed an 8-1 victory to start the scoring at No. 2 doubles. 

Seniors Jacob Burkett (Clarkston, Michigan / Clarkston) and Cameron Coates (Stevensville, Michigan / Laurel Springs) followed with an 8-6 No. 1 doubles victory.

At third doubles, juniors Justin Fay (Naperville, Illinois / St. Francis) and John Voss (Cincinnati, Ohio / St. Xavier) battled back from down a break to force a tiebreak, which they won 7-5 to take an 8-7 victory as the Flying Dutchmen completed the doubles sweep.

Two of Hope's four All-MIAA selections secured the last two match victories to advance to the championship match.

First, Coates delivered a dominant 6-2, 6-2 victory at third singles in just under an hour.

Following suit, Burkett, Hope's First Team All-MIAA selection, stepped up with an electric performance at No.1 singles.Burkett won the first set 6-1, then jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the second set, with an opportunity to serve his team into the MIAA Championship. An aggressive choice to serve and volley, followed by a few magical strokes at the net, and Hope secured the 5-0 sweep of Calvin.