GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The 24th-ranked Calvin University women's volleyball team three in three sets to second-ranked Hope College in the MIAA opener at Van Noord Arena on Tuesday night by the scores of 25-19, 25-20 and 25-20.
 
Calvin (9-5, 0-1 MIAA) got off to a strong start in the opening set with an early 6-1 edge, but Hope (12-2, 1-0 MIAA) worked itself back into the set and tied the score 10-10. The teams battled back and forth to a 17-17 tie, but the Flying Dutch kicked things into gear late with an 8-2 run to end the set and take a 1-0 overall lead.
 
Over the next two sets, the Knights worked and battled to keep within striking distance throughout the sets, but could not come up with the big run to overcome the Flying Dutch late as Hope closed out the league-opening win.
 
Hope was strong on the attack throughout, hitting .283 overall and hitting at least .225 in each of the three sets.
 
Calvin hit .148 on the attack for the match, with Aerin Baker (Saugatuck, Mich./Saugatuck) leading the way with a match-high 14 kills. Jasmine Namminga (Pella, Iowa/Pella Community) and Emma Ekblaw (Chesterton, Ind./Chesterton) each finished with seven kills for Calvin.
 
Defensively, Tryna Vander Zwaag (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian) led three players in double figures with 15 digs, with Mackenzie Gerig (Rochester, N.Y./Hilton) and Avery Ekkens (Portage, Mich./Kalamazoo Christian) recording 12 and 10 digs, respectively.
 
NEXT UP: Calvin women's volleyball will return to action on Saturday, October 5, when it travels to Trine University for a triangular. The Knights will play Trine at 1:00 PM, followed by a match against Ohio Northern University at 3:00 PM at Trine.