Hope women's tennis wins 10th straight MIAA Tournament title, men finish in second

The Hope College women's tennis team completed another dominating run through Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association competition Saturday afternoon, blanking Kalamazoo College 5-0 at the Vande Poel-Heeringa Stadium Courts to win a 10th consecutive MIAA tournament championship.

The Flying Dutch, now 18-7 on the season, swept all three doubles flights, then got straight-set singles victories from their two seniors to clinch the tournament title and the MIAA's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III national tournament.

The 49-team NCAA field will be announced on Monday, May 9, on ncaa.com by noon

"It's just fantastic," said Sydney Jackson, one of the two seniors. "It was great to have both the seniors, the only seniors, get to clinch [the title]. It was really exciting."

Jackson, from Fort Wayne, Indiana [Carroll], defeated Kalamazoo's Caroline Norton 6-2, 6-1 at first singles. Then, fellow senior Saydee Johns of Holland, Michigan [Holland] closed out the match by blanking the Hornets' Ella Knight, 6-0, 6-0 at fourth singles.

"It's really sweet that the seniors could lock it down," Johns said as she cradled the tournament champion trophy. "Each one of the girls truly works their butts off all season. This is just a testament to our hard work, and it feels awesome."

First-year head coach Austin Hunt raved about his seniors after the match.

"They've been incredible in terms of helping me create this team, throughout the whole year," Hunt said.

Hunt is the fourth different head coach the Flying Dutch have made on their run of tournament titles, joining current assistant coach Nate Price (2010-12, 2017), Adam Ford (2013-16) and Bob Cawood (2018-21). He didn't need to say much to his team to get them ready for the match.

"One of the first things I told them was that they didn't necessarily need me to spout strategy. They didn't need me necessarily to continually tell them I believe in them, because I've told them that all year," Hunt said.

"I told them you gotta go out, and at the end of the day, make sure you wake up tomorrow with no regrets at all on how you played today."

Two of the three doubles matches were closely-fought. At second doubles, Johns and junior Taylor Truman of Hudsonville, Michigan [Hudsonville] battled back from an early 4-0 deficit to defeat Kalamazoo's Sophie Zhuang and Meghan Killmaster, 8-6. Then at third doubles, junior Delanie Riebschleger of Rockford, Michigan [Rockford] and sophomore Annika Weeber, also of Rockford, Michigan (Grand Rapids Christian), won a tiebreaker over Knight and Maddie Hurley, 8-7 (3).

Meanwhile, Jackson, who repeated as MIAA most valuable player this season, teamed up with freshman Sullivan Patel of Birmingham, Michigan [Wylie E. Groves] at first doubles to defeat Norton and Renee Torres, 8-3.

The men's tennis team also made it to the title match, but fell just short. The team started off Friday night's Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association tournament championship match at traditional powerhouse Kalamazoo College by taking two of the three doubles matches.

However, the Flying Dutchmen could not carry that early momentum over into the singles matches, as the Hornets won four consecutive flights to defeat Hope, 5-2, at the Markin Center to claim the tournament championship and the MIAA's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III national tournament.

The Flying Dutchmen, who finished second to Kalamazoo in the MIAA standings with a 6-1 conference record, finished the season at 8-13.

Hope recorded flight victories at first and third doubles. At first doubles, juniors Cameron Coates of Stevensville, Michigan (Laurel Springs Schoo) and Jacob Burkett of Clarkston, Michigan (Clarkston) edged out the Hornets' Ian Yi and Peter Fitzgerald in a tiebreaker, 8-7 (9).

Then at third doubles, senior Tyler Koran of Salinas, California (Salinas) and sophomore Justin Fay of Naperville, Illinois (St. Francis) put together a strong performance in defeating Kalamazoo's Gabe Vidinas and Parker Foster 8-3.

The Hornets swept each of the first four singles flights in straight sets. The closest Hope got to winning a set was at fourth singles, where junior Matt Henkel of Traverse City, Michigan [Traverse City Central] battled Kalamazoo's Casey Johnson in the first set before falling 6-4, 6-0.

It was third consecutive MIAA tournament where Hope reached the championship match, not counting 2020, where the league season and tournament were canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Hope College women's tennis wins 10th straight MIAA Tournament title, men finish in second