No. 10 Hope Volleyball Shows Improvement In MIAA Final Loss To No. 4 Calvin

Head coach Becky Schmidt liked the improvement she saw from her Hope College volleyball team, even though the Flying Dutch finished runner-up in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament.

The 10th-ranked Flying Dutch lost at fourth-ranked Calvin 25-17, 25-23, 25-21 in Saturday's title game but performed at a higher level than previous matches with the Knights.

Calvin (28-3) clinched the MIAA's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament. Hope, 24-16 this season and the 2014 national champion, will need an at-large berth when the NCAA field is announced on Monday at 11 a.m. at ncaa.com/liveschedule.

The third Hope-Calvin match of the season and 91st all-time was the most competitive of the group.

Hope threatened to pull even at 1-set after taking a 23-22 lead on a kill from freshman Katie Rietberg of Holland, Michigan (West Ottawa HS).

Calvin, however, answered with a run of three points to win the set, the last of which came on an ace right on the back line from Laura Danhoff.

"There is progress that we have been making leading up to this match," Schmidt said. "I'm very pleased with our blocking and what we're doing at the net. We were on a lot of occasions playing on instinct and being able to find that fire and intensity to have what we have been calling it: relentless determination on defense. There were times we certainly had that and times we struggled.

"We needed to be able to find a way to find more holes in Calvin's defense. They did a great job of covering the court and make it difficult for us to do that. Now going to win many games hitting 0.76."

Rietberg topped Hope with eight kills.

Junior middle hitter Courtney Van Houzen of Traverse City, Michigan (Traverse City West HS) and sophomore outside hitter Haley Muller of Grand Rapids, Michigan (Grand Rapids Christian HS) added seven kills apiece.

All-MIAA First-Team setter Lauren Hazekamp of Fruitport, Michigan (Fruitport HS), totaled 22 assists. 

Senior libero and two-time MIAA Defensive Player of the Year Allie Mitchell of Grand Rapids, Michigan (Forest Hills Eastern HS) collected a match-high 19 digs.