Westra, No. 8 Calvin tops No. 15 Hope in 3 sets
GRAND RAPIDS — The eighth-ranked Calvin Knights were powered by a season-high 22 kills from Paige Westra as they defeated 15th-ranked Hope 25-20, 25-21, 25-12 Wednesday at Van Noord Arena.
In the first matchup of The Rivalry for the season, Hope was playing catch up most of the night. The Flying Dutch hit .127 on the night compared to Calvin’s .350, and struggled to keep up throughout the night.
With a matchup of two top-15 teams that know each other so well, the margins are always going to be small, and Hope College coach Becky Schmidt thought it was the little things that made the difference.
“Ton of credit to Calvin,” Schmidt said. “The difference was a level of poise on their side of the net that we were struggling to find on a consistent kind of basis. There was times we had tremendous efforts going after balls, there were times we had some really, really great plays. But the combination of putting it all together was just something we felt like we were scrambling for.”
The first two sets were about as close as one could expect, with Calvin pulling away in both as the sets went on. It was 12-12 midway through the first and 16-15 Calvin, before the Knights backed the Flying Dutch up with a 4-0 run. The Dutch got back within three but couldn’t draw closer.
Westra had eight kills in that first set and the Knights kept feeding her in the second. She’d add 10 more in the second set as the Flying Dutch defense had too many options from her to contend with at any given moment.
“They were able to get into a rhythm on offense,” said junior libero Olivia Fiebing. “(Westra) can hit the ball hard cross, she can hit it hard line, then she mix it up and does a roll shot or tip right over the block.”
Hope went up 9-8 in the second before yielding a 5-0 run, and that four-point margin is mostly where it stayed for the rest of the second set.
And while Westra was held in check more in the third set, notching four kills, things fell apart for the Flying Dutch. A quick rally early in the third set tied things at 7-7, but the Knights blew the doors wide open from there.
Calvin ended the third set on an 18-5 run, putting the Flying Dutch away with a decisive third. It highlighted one of the main takeaways for Schmidt in a loss to heated rival.
“This is a unique environment to play in,” she said. “There’s a lot of times we’re able to play really good, clean volleyball when the pressure’s not on. But that doesn’t really distinguish a championship-level team. And what we’ve got to do is find that edge.”
For Hope, Eva Hartung and Annie Lockett both led the team with eight kills. Lauren Lee notched 25 assists, Fiebing had 17 digs, and Lee, Lockett and Charlotte Brecht each had two blocks.
Calvin got three blocks from both Westra and Vanessa Martinez. Aubrey Wrubel had three aces, Maria Bos tallied 14 digs and Alyssa DeVries paced the offense with 36 assists.
“I think it was a classic Hope-Calvin match as far as crowd, energy, electricity,” said Calvin coach Amber Warners. “I think we just beat them in our serve-pass game, and I thought our blocking was very good. We have been practicing every day to help our team, our side be better. We’ve talked all along about it doesn’t matter who’s on the other side.
“The seniors came to play and lead the team tonight.”
Calvin moves to 9-3 and 2-0 in MIAA play for the season. Hope is 10-4 and 2-1 in conference action, and heads to Wheaton on Saturday.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Calvin women beat Hope College volleyball in three sets
