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Ella Contant and Kamryn Burbridge go for a block.
Matt Durisko
Pictured, Angie Butler (14), Ella Contant (10), Kamryn Burbridge
3
Winner Carnegie Mellon CMU 26-8,4-3 UAA
2
Hope Hope 23-7,8-0 Michigan Intercol. Ath. Assn.
Winner
Carnegie Mellon CMU
26-8,4-3 UAA
3
Final
2
Hope Hope
23-7,8-0 Michigan Intercol. Ath. Assn.
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
Carnegie Mellon CMU 14 25 28 19 15 (3)
Hope Hope 25 9 26 25 10 (2)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | | Alan Babbitt

No. 10 Volleyball Falls in Five-Set Thriller to No. 22 Carnegie Mellon in NCAA Regional Semifinals

Hope finishes with a 23-7 record

A gritty Hope College volleyball team battled until one final strike in the Steel City dashed its dreams of playing one more day together.

On its home court, No. 22 Carnegie Mellon University outlasted the 10th-ranked Flying Dutch in a five-set thriller during the NCAA Division III Regional semifinals in Pittsburgh, winning 14-25, 25-9, 28-26, 19-25, 15-10.

The MIAA regular-season champions finished the season with a 23-7 overall record. The UAA Tournament champion Tartans advanced to the regional final against No. 4 University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire on Saturday, Nov. 22, at 5 p.m.

While hoping for a different outcome, head coach Becky Schmidt expressed pride in her team's relentless effort.

"Congratulations to Carnegie Mellon on a well-played, hard-fought match. A gutsy, gutsy match from both teams," Schmidt said. "I went into the locker room and said, 'I'm very proud of the way this team fought.' We knew this was going to be a gritty match. We knew we were going to be in situations where we were just going to be swinging for our lives. That's how it turned out."

Carnegie Mellon (26-8) put four players in double figures in kills, led by 18 from Katherine Jackson. The Tartans scored eight of the final 10 points during the decisive fifth set.

For Hope, middle blockers Kamryn Burbridge (Grand Haven, Michigan / Grand Haven) and Olivia Wyma recorded 20 kills apiece. Wyma set a career high for kills; Burbridge matched her personal best.

"I give our passers a ton of credit, and our setters a ton of credit, to get our middles going tonight," Schmidt said. "I don't know if I have ever seen a match where I've seen the middles so effective."

Setter Lauren Lee (Plymouth, Michigan / Skyline) delivered a season-high 55 assists in her final match for the Flying Dutch.

Outside hitter Brooke Fox (Saunemin, Illinois / Pontiac Township) recorded 11 kills and 17 digs in her final match.

Five more seniors — Gracie Allen, Ella Contant, Tess Herendeen, Jenna James and Kate Luurtsema — joined Fox and Lee in closing remarkable careers at Hope that included national runner-up and national semifinal appearances, three regional titles, three consecutive MIAA regular-season championships and two MIAA Tournament crowns.

The results on the court were only a small part of the legacy they created, Schmidt said.

"They have been through a lot, been to a few elite eights, won a lot of matches. The legacy goes into the way people feel. They're not going to remember their record over the course of their lives; they're going to remember the relationships," Schmidt said. "The people down in that locker room are forever changed because of the people they have been able to provide leadership to, the leadership they earned from past seniors who passed the legacy on to them, and they continued it.

"Last year we graduated a lot — not just talent on the court, but a big part of our culture. From day one with this team, the seniors were able to maintain and elevate who we were and who we were aspiring to be. They did it through love and they did it through joy. Every day they came in to honor this game, our God, our school and each other."

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