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Hope College

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Women's Volleyball vs Bethel
Lynne Powe
2
Hope Hope 19-9,7-1 Michigan Intercol. Ath. Assn.
3
Winner Calvin Calvin 25-3,8-0 Michigan Intercol. Ath. Assn.
Hope Hope
19-9,7-1 Michigan Intercol. Ath. Assn.
2
Final
3
Calvin Calvin
25-3,8-0 Michigan Intercol. Ath. Assn.
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
Hope Hope 25 20 25 21 12 (2)
Calvin Calvin 21 25 20 25 15 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | | Greg Chandler

Volleyball Edged in MIAA Tournament Final Thriller

The Hope College volleyball team went toe-to-toe with Calvin University in the championship match of the MIAA Tournament Saturday night at Van Noord Arena, extending the Knights to five sets.

But in the end, No. 14 Calvin scored the final three points to clinch the match, the tournament title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament – 21-25, 25-20, 20-25, 25-21, 15-12. The Flying Dutch ended their season with a record of 19-9, while Calvin improved to 25-3.

The fifth and deciding set was tied on eight separate occasions as the teams exchanged points. Hope took a 10-9 lead late on a kill by senior middle hitter Kamryn Burbridge (Grand Haven, Michigan / Grand Haven), but that was the last time the Flying Dutch led. Calvin scored six of the last eight points.

"It was a hard-fought match, for sure," head coach Becky Schmidt said after the match. "Credit to Calvin and the way that they steadied themselves throughout the match, to be able to find ways to get some points.

"It was a battle of first contact most of the time, as it has been in a lot of our matches with them. I thought we served them really tough and got them out of system. I thought that we had a hard time timing our block against the outside hitting that they did. They made some smart off-speed (attacks) against us. I think we found ways to be able to be smart ourselves."

Hope started slowly in the match, falling behind 6-1 early in the first set. But as the set wore on, the Flying Dutch found openings in Calvin's defense.

A six-point run that featured a pair of aces by sophomore setter Brooke Hehl (Rochester, Michigan / Lutheran Northwest) and capped by a tandem block by freshman middle hitter Maddie Ostrander (Grand Rapids, Michigan / Catholic Central) and sophomore middle blocker Kate VanderHill (Hudsonville, Michigan / Unity Christian) gave Hope a 22-17 lead. A kill by sophomore outside hitter Kiera Morrison (Bartlett, Illinois / Wheaton Academy) finished off the set.

Calvin led all the way in the second set, building a 16-10 lead. Hope twice pulled to within one point – 16-15 on an Ostrander kill and 20-19 on a Morrison ace – but Calvin held off the Flying Dutch rally to even the match.

Hope jumped on Calvin in the third set, jumping out to an 8-3 lead. The Knights scrapped back and, on six separate occasions, cut the lead to one point. But the Flying Dutch closed out the set with a Burbridge kill and an ace by sophomore outside hitter Amelia Gagnon (Belmont, Michigan / Grand Rapids West Catholic) as Hope took a two-sets-to-one lead.

The Flying Dutch took a 6-3 lead early in the fourth set, but Calvin came back with five unanswered points to take the lead and never trailed the rest of the set again. The Knights built a 19-14 lead and held off a late Hope rally to send the match to the fifth and deciding set.

Junior outside hitter Angie Butler (Novi, Michigan / Farmington Hills Mercy) led the Flying Dutch with 18 kills for the match while Morrison added 17. Ostrander had six blocks, while Burbridge had nine kills in her final match, putting her over 1,000 kills for her career, and added four blocks.

"I really think that she is one of the most dynamic, if not the most dynamic middle (hitters) that we've ever had in our program," Schmidt said of Burbridge. "Her blocking, her attacking – she's just playing at another level than most of the teams that we've played against. She's incredible."

Hehl dished out 45 assists for the match. Senior libero Kathryn Oates (Liberty Township, Ohio/Cincinnati Christian) led Hope in digs with 21 while Gagnon added 14.

"I give a ton of credit to our back row defense. They were all over the place. Kate Oates is just a champ," Schmidt said.

The loss was the final match for Hope's three seniors: Burbridge, Oates and right-side hitter Natalie Pannucci (North Muskegon, Michigan/North Muskegon).

"We really wanted it for our seniors, to be able to have a shot to continue this ride a little bit longer, but Calvin did a great job down the stretch," Schmidt said.
 
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