-- Story provided by Hope College Athletics --
A postseason match finally did not turn in favor of a gritty and talented Hope College volleyball team, but there remained immense reasons for celebration and appreciation.
The Flying Dutch finished as NCAA Division III national runner-up following a three-set loss to top-ranked Juniata College (Pa.) on Saturday in Claremont, California.
Juniata repeated as national champions and completed a perfect season at 35-0 with a 25-22, 25-20, 25-21 victory. The Eagles dropped only six sets the entire season and extended their winning streak to 62 matches.
Hope — which had won an NCAA-record four consecutive five-set victories to reach the title match — ended with a 32-3 overall record. The 32 wins are the third-most in program history.
The second-place finish is the second-best in program history. Hope won the 2014 national title.
"First of all, I want to congratulate Juniata on a national championship and an incredibly well-played match. Just an incredible season for them," head coach Becky Schmidt said. "I am super proud of our team and thankful for the opportunity I had to be a part of this group because it's a group that's just special. They make each other better. They make me better. I'm very thankful for the season that we had and the ways their relationships are going to continue beyond this match."
Added libero Olivia Fiebing, Hope's lone senior: "This is the greatest learning experience of my life. I've learned so much about relationships, about people, about trust. It's crazy, but I'm standing next to five people on the court and how many people would be on the bench. The ability to let go and trust because of the support system I have around me is pretty ridiculous. To know I can go on and live the rest of my life having that is just so special.
"I couldn't be more grateful for all the girls and coaches."
Junior outside hitter Addie VanderWeide (Grand Rapids, Michigan / Grand Rapids Christian HS) and freshman middle blocker Kamryn Burbridge (Grand Haven, Michigan / Grand Haven) represented the Flying Dutch on the all-tournament team.
Junior middle blocker Alison DeWeerd (Kentwood, Michigan / South Christian) and sophomore outside hitter Brooke Fox (Saunemin, Illinois / Pontiac Township) topped Hope with eight kills apiece. Burbridge added seven.
VanderWeide collected six kills and 13 digs. The 2023 AVCA National Co-Player of the Year and AVCA All-American broke the Flying Dutch's single-season record for kills in 25-point sets with 535. Nora Slenk had held the old mark of 532 since 2006.
Sophomore setter and AVCA All-American Lauren Lee (Plymouth, Michigan / Saline) finished with 24 assists for the match.
Fiebing (Traverse City, Michigan / Central) recorded a team-high 23 assists.
"We're going to miss this one incredibly," Schmidt said, patting Fiebing on the left shoulder during the post-match press conference. "She has been an incredible leader for us. She is a warrior not only on the court, but in the heart. I'm super proud of the person she's become over four years. I'm thankful for the ways she has lived into every single one of the players on the team.
"There's going to be tomorrow. We're going to have some talented kids coming back to get after it, but there's no replacing Olivia."
Juniata's attack featured four players with at least nine kills, including Audrey Muth with a match-high 11.
The Eagles soared and denied Hope's bid to become two-time national champions behind powerful and deceptive serving in each set, particularly from Kennedy Christy.
Christy delivered eight aces, giving Juniata a 12-3 edge over the Flying Dutch. While the Eagles also committed 11 service errors to Hope's three, their aggression at the line and ability to capitalize off it kept the Flying Dutch from responding with their familiar extended rallies.
"If you were going to write a textbook about how to be a good volleyball team, you'd start off at being really good at the service line. It throws the other team off their game and it makes it difficult for them to get into a rhythm," Schmidt said. "It's one of the things Juniata did tonight. They had a lot of flow and a lot of pace on their serves. Pace and flow is a really difficult combination. A lot of times to get some flow you've got to take some pace off. They were able to find really good contacts and put a lot of pressure on us.
"I thought we served really tough as well. We got them out of system, but we didn't score points. They scored points."
The loss was Hope's second in a row to Juniata in the NCAA Championships. The Eagles won their 2022 matchup in the quarterfinals.
Saturday's rematch and the entire NCAA Championships journey were beneficial for the team's future, Schmidt said.
"A really good friend of mine said you learn how to win matches in the NCAA Tournament. We had a lot of opportunities, thankfully, to learn," Schmidt said. "Tonight was a good learning opportunity. It's an experience for those folks who are going to be able to come back that is going to impact their ways at how they look at their preparation moving forward."
