Junior middle hitter Courtney Van Houzen of Traverse City, Michigan (Traverse City West HS) and the 10th-ranked Hope College volleyball team powered their way to a 3-0 semifinal win against Adrian on Friday in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament.
The Flying Dutch won 25-16, 25-19, 25-19 at Calvin College behind Van Houzen's career-high 14 kills and 10 from freshman outside hitter Katie Rietberg of Holland, Michigan (West Ottawa HS).
Hope (24-5 overall) will play fourth-ranked Calvin at 7 p.m. Saturday for the MIAA's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Championship.
It is the Flying Dutch's 10th consecutive appearance in a MIAA final and 13th overall. The Flying Dutch are seeking to join previous Hope winners from 2010 and 2000.
Senior setter Lauren Hazekamp of Fruitport, Michigan (Fruitport HS) collected 35 assists, 11 digs and six kills for the Flying Dutch.
Hazekamp passed Stephanie Poll (2004-06) for second place in career assists with 3,668. Hazekamp also moved into ninth place with 1,072 career digs by eclipsing Nora Slenk (2005-8) and Sara DeWeerdt (2007-10) during the match.
Hope improved to 24-13 all-time in the MIAA Tournament and 6-0 against Adrian in postseason play.
Hope coach Becky Schmidt said, "I felt good about the way we facilitated our ways to be successful. Our block did a much better job tonight. That's something we put a good amount of work into. They really stepped up and blocked hard defensively."
