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HOLLAND SENTINEL STORY

HOLLAND, Mich. – The No. 5 Calvin volleyball team picked up a big victory on the road in front of a hostile crowd on Wednesday evening at No. 13 Hope. The Knights swept the Flying Dutch, 25-23, 25-17 and 25-19. Calvin improves to 17-3 on the year and 11-0 in the MIAA. Hope falls to 14-5 and 9-2 in the MIAA.

"I am very happy with how we came out and played tonight," said head coach Amber Warners. "I thought we were very aggressive with our serving, that was our goal. It's not always easy to do that when you are in someone's gym with a crowd that Hope draws. So I liked how mentally tough we were.

The first set saw the Knights and Flying Dutch exchange points until the first set was tied at eight. The Knights would go on a 4-0 run behind the serve of sophomore Emily Blankespoor (Grand Rapids, Mich./South Christian).  Hope would fight back to tie the set at 13. Hope would take the lead with a 4-0 run to lead, 17-14. Calvin would rally back to tie the set at 17 behind the serve of senior Maggie Kamp (Orland Park, Ill./Chicago Christian). The teams would exchange points until junior Laura Danhoff (Willard, Ohio/Willard) would take matters into her own hands. With the set tied at 23, Danhoff finished the set with two aces, to take the set and the air out of the home crowd.

Calvin started the second set on fire, taking an early 5-2 lead. With the Knights leading 10-7, Calvin would go on a 5-0 run behind the serve of senior Jamie Kooiman (Eugene, Ore./South Eugene) from where the Knights would not look back. Freshman Anna Kamp (Orland Park, Ill./Chicago Christian) tallied two kills during the run. Emily Blankespoor finished the set with an ace to take the set, 25-17.

After trailing 0-2 in the third set, Calvin would ring off the next six points behind the serve of Laura Danhoff. Maggie Kamp recorded four kills in the 6-0 run. Hope would scratch back to 6-5, but Calvin would respond with an 8-2 run to make it 14-7. Hope pushed back to within three to make it 18-15. Sophomore Jenna Lodewyk (Villa Park, Ill./Timothy Christian) stopped the Dutch rally with two aces to give Calvin a 21-15 lead. The Knights would go on to win the set, 25-19.

Calvin was led by Maggie Kamp on Wednesday with 15 kills, with Anna Kamp finishing with 6 kills and 4 kills for Laura Danhoff. Jenna Lodewyk recorded 28 assists and four aces on the night. Anna Kamp led the Knights 3.5 blocks that ties her career-best at Calvin. Jamie Kooiman had 11 digs on Wednesday with freshman Keilahna Castilllo finishing with 10 digs.

Calvin is now 19-9 all-time in DeVos Fieldhouse and is now 7-7 vs. Hope at DeVos. The Knights are now 4-3 against ranked competition.

Calvin returns to action on Friday at the Calvin Midwest Invitational. The Knights will face Bluffton at 2 p.m. and finish the day at 7 p.m. against No. 7 Wittenberg.