GRAND RAPIDS - The Calvin volleyball team made the most of its first home match in nearly four weeks with a dominant 3-0 sweep of Hope by the scores of 25-20, 25-21 and 25-12 on Wednesday.

A huge crowd was in attendance to see the battle of top-15 teams, and the eighth-ranked Knights answered the bell early against the 15th-ranked Flying Dutch.

The teams went back and forth in a first set that featured nine ties and five lead changes, but the Knights took control late with the help of eight kills from Heidi Westra (Clarendon Hills, Ill./Timothy Christian) to win 25-20.

Westra's dominant performance was the theme of the night for Calvin as she added 10 more kills to her total in the second set to lead the Knights to a 25-21 win and a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.

Calvin continued to ride the momentum and the crowd in the third set, building a big lead early and then slamming the door shut to close out the emphatic win.

Westra finished the night with 22 kills and an attack efficiency of .514. She also performed well on the defensive end with three blocks (one solo) and nine digs.

"We focused on our side and different shots we could hit in order to succeed," Westra said after the match. "I think our back row did a really good job calling out different shots for us and what was open, and Alyssa (DeVries) did a great job pitching the ball, too."

Each of the Calvin hitters did well on the attack as Gabriella Kellogg (Belleville, Mich./Plymouth Christian Academy) finished with nine kills, while setter Alyssa DeVries (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) finished with 36 assists and helped the Knights hit .350 for the match.

COACH'S COMMENT: "I think it was a classic Hope/Calvin match as far as crowd, energy and electricity, and I thought at the start both teams came to play," Calvin head volleyball coach Amber Warners said. "I think we just beat them in our serve/pass game, I thought our blocking was really good, and I thought we were very smart in where we put the ball on offense."

For more comments from Calvin head coach Amber Warners, as well as seniors Heidi Westra and Maria Bos (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian), click on the video below:



NEXT UP: Calvin volleyball will return to action on Tuesday, October 4, when it travels to Trine for a match scheduled to start at 6:30 PM.