GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The No.3 ranked Calvin women's volleyball team defeated rival Hope College 3-0 to claim its thirteenth MIAA Tournament championship. With the win, the Knights remain undefeated in MIAA play on the season and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III National Tournament.

 Calvin improves to 26-3 on the season, while Hope concludes its season at 19-11.

The Knights have won the MIAA Tournament 13 of the 17 years, with Dr. Amber Warners winning 11 titles. With the win, Calvin now leads the all-time series record against Hope 68-30. The Knights have won 10 of their last 12 meetings against the Flying Dutch.

The Knights swept Albion in the MIAA Tournament semifinals to earn a spot in the finals. Sophomore Sarah DeVries (Grand Rapids, Mich./Northpointe Christian) had a career-high 20 kills in the win, while senior Emily Blankespoor (Grand Rapids, Mich./South Christian) tied her career high with six service aces. Hope claimed a 3-0 victory over Saint Mary's in the other semifinal.

Calvin controlled the contest, allowing Hope to hold only two leads during the entire match.

"I thought it was a typical Calvin-Hope match – lots of momentum swings, lots of emotion, two teams fighting it out," said head women's volleyball coach Dr. Amber Warners. "We controlled things in a positive and a negative way. We need to learn to just relax and play, and I think this was a really good lesson for us to learn without having it cost us."

"We try to bring the same mindset to every game," said MIAA MVP junior Anna Kamp (Orland Park, Ill./Chicago Christian). "We try to stay inside our bubble and be the aggressor." Kamp led all players with 15 kills.

A pair of service aces by Blankespoor gave the Knights an early lead. Kamp sparked Calvin's offense, racking up four kills to help give the Knights a 7-3 lead. A block by Kamp and freshman Sydney Segard (Hudsonville, Mich./Hudsonville) followed by a kill from senior setter Jenna Lodewyk (Villa Park, Ill./Timothy Christian) expanded Calvin's lead to six. The Knights maintained their lead as the teams exchanged points, but the Flying Dutch used a 5-1 run to make the score 15-13 before Calvin called timeout. Hope came within one point of tying the game, but a big kill by Kamp shifted the momentum. Segard and DeVries followed with kills of their own as the Knights went up 20-16, forcing a Hope timeout. Despite push back form the Flying Dutch, a trio of blocks helped lift the Knights to a 25-19 set-one victory.

The Knights jumped out to a 6-0 lead in set two behind the serve of Blankespoor before Hope called timeout. Calvin continued to roll, building its lead to eight to force a second Hope timeout. The Dutch began to chip away at the Knights' lead and tied the set at 17 to force a Calvin timeout. Back-to-back errors by the Dutch gave Calvin a 20-18 advantage. Sophomore Ally Fea (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Mechanicsburg) stepped up late in the set with a timely solo block and a kill for Calvin, and a powerful kill by Kamp gave the Knights a 25-22 win.

Strong serving by senior Kristen Vyletel (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron) helped the Knights take the first four points of the second set. Hope pushed back, tying the set at 10, but Calvin won a big rally to reclaim the lead. The Dutch tied the score once again, but a kill by senior Tessa Van Laare (Toronto, Ontario/Toronto District Christian) and an ace by Blankespoor put the Knights back up. The Flying Dutch tied the set five more times, eventually taking an 18-17 lead before Calvin called timeout. Vyletel and Kamp made big plays to reclaim a 20-18 Calvin lead and force a Hope timeout. Kills by Fea, Van Laare and DeVries put the Knights up 23-20 as Hope called its final timeout. Back-to-back kills by Kamp gave Calvin a 25-21 set and 3-0 match victory.

The Knights swung for a .299 hitting percentage and posted 12 blocks in the win.

Kamp led all players with 15 kills with a .378 hitting percentage, while also finishing with a team-high 11 digs. DeVries followed, notching 10 kills, as well as eight block assists and seven digs. Lodewyk pumped out 30 assists in the victory and dug up nine balls. Blankespoor continued to be strong from the serving line with four service aces.

"One of the things that I thought Anna did exceptionally well was hit balls that weren't necessarily from good passes and were out of system," said Warners. "She's very aggressive and very consistent."

Calvin racked up seven service aces, but also had 16 service errors.

"Despite the missed serves, I thought there were a lot of serves where we kept them out of system, which is our philosophy," said Warners. "A little bit out of character for us to miss that many, but there were dozens that kept them from getting a good hit back. That's what a lot of people don't see and that's the advantage of being aggressive on your serving."

Junior Vanessa Reynhout (Freeport, Mich./Lakewood) and junior Katie Rietberg (Holland, Mich./West Ottawa) led Hope's offense with eight kills apiece. Senior Sophie Hackett (Indianapolis, Ind./Brebeuf Jesuit Prep) finished with 26 assists and a game-high 12 digs. The Knights held Hope leading killer senior Haley Muller (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapid Christian) to a -.053 hitting percentage.

 "I think that in every one of those sets, we got down a little bit, but we showed a lot of grit in the way that we fought back," said Hope head coach Becky Schmidt. "I think there were too many short rallies where Calvin got the better of us on, when they pushed us out of system and were able to transition really quickly and terminate. I was really impressed with our fight in some of the longer rallies and the way that we created opportunities for ourselves as each set went on. By the end, I think we'd just dug ourselves in too big of a hole and it was going to take a little too much to climb back on top. I give Calvin a lot of credit. Their block did a really nice against us, and their defense is always strong."

With the victory, the Knights secure a spot in the NCAA Division III Tournament. Calvin will find out its first opponent on Monday at 12:30 p.m. during the NCAA Selection Show.