The second ranked Calvin women's volleyball team swept rival Hope Saturday evening inside Van Noord Arena by scores of 25-16, 25-17, 25-18 to improve to 6-1 overall and 3-0 in the MIAA.

Ranked ninth nationally, Hope falls to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in league competition.
Calvin roared out to a 19-3 lead in set one keyed by three service aces from junior Laura Danhoff (Willard, OH/Willard HS).

The Knights kept up the pressure in set two, building an early 12-4 lead. In set three, Hope grabbed a 7-6 lead but Calvin went on a 12-5 run to take control of the set and the match.

The victory was the 400th win for Amber Warners as head coach of the Calvin women's volleyball program. In 14 years at the helm of the Knights, Warners is 400-66 for a winning percentage of .858.

"That (400th win) to me is something I can't take credit for because it is about the players," said Warners. "My philosophy is that I lead them and they do the work. I feel extrmely blessed that our players have bought into what we are trying to do both on and off the court."

The Knights finished with nine service aces in the win led by Danhoff who finished with four aces. Danhoff also had seven kills and a hitting percentage of .316.

"I feel like our serving is starting to come about after a number of years on focusing on that area of the game," said Warners. "I think that playing the type of competition that we have played so far has also really helped us far. We know that we can't throw the ball across the net. We have to serve aggressively against the teams we play."

Sophomore Tessa Van Laare (Toronto, Ont./Toronto District Christian HS) and freshman Anna Kamp (Orland Park, IL/Chicago Christian HS) had 10 kills apiece with Kamp hitting at a .474 clip. Senior Maggie Kamp (Orland Park, IL/Chicago Christian HS) had nine kills.

Sophomore Jenna Lodewyk (Villa Park, IL./Timothy Christian HS) had 36 assists and five digs.

As a team, Calvin finished with 52 digs led by sophomore Emily Blankespoor (Grand Rapids/South Chrisitan HS) with 10 while freshman Keilahna Castillo (Grandville/Grandville HS) had nine digs.

Calvin returns to the court next Wednesday when it hosts Olivet at 6:30 p.m.