Calvin University

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The opening round of the 2026 Calvin-Hope women's volleyball rivalry went to the Knights.

Calvin came from behind to defeat Hope 24-26, 25-21, 25-21, 25-18 in front of 2,248 fans at Van Noord Arena Wednesday night.

The Calvin victory sets up a first-place MIAA showdown late Saturday afternoon with the Knights hosting Albion at 5 p.m. at Van Noord Arena. Both teams enter the match with 4-0 records.

Ranked 12^th nationally, Calvin improved to 17-2 overall with Wednesday's win while Hope slipped to 15-7 overall and 4-1 in league play.

Wednesday's match featured narrow margins.

The teams traded points in set one before Hope pulled out to a 19-16 lead. Hope had a set point at 24-22 but Calvin used kills from freshman Kate Van Appledorn (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian HS) and senior Allison Moore (Jupiter, Fla./Jupiter Christian HS) to tie the set at 24. Hope answered with back-to-back kills from junior Angie Butler to take the first set 26-24.

Calvin hit .234 in set two and used a five-point run to build a 19-15 lead. Calvin later used kills from Van Appledorn and Moore again to go up 23-19 and sealed the win on a Moore blast and a Hope attack error.

Set three featured deep momentum shifts. Calvin roared out to a 13-6 lead and later led 18-8. Calvin held set point at 24-16 but struggled to put away the Flying Dutch as Hope ripped off five straight points behind the serving of freshman Reese Low to close to within 24-21. Calvin closed out the set however on a quick feed from junior Grace Spoelma (Caledonia, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) to sophomore Sarah Bradley (Clarkston, Mich./Everest Collegiate for a kill down the left sideline.

Bradley began to percolate as the match progressed and keyed a Calvin comeback in set four. Hope led 10-6 and later 12-8 in the set. Bradley helped ignite a 7-1 Calvin run with a kill off a Hope overpass.  Senior Mary Boa (Atlanta, Ga./Riverwood International Charter) also dropped in a service ace in the Knight surge.

A Bradley blast gave Calvin a 16-14 lead and a service ace by senior Tryna Vander Zwaag (Hamilton, Mich./Holland Christian HS) put Calvin up 19-16. Sophomore Caralee Schipper (Mount Brydges, Ontario/Strathroy District Collegiate Institute) reached back with an attack from the right wing and found the floor to put the Knights up 20-17. The point kicked off a late 4-0 run by the Knights with senior Jordan Steen (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian HS) serving up three crucial points including an ace that pushed Calvin into a 23-17 advantage.

Calvin closed out the match on a kill by Moore and an attack error by Hope.

Bradley finished the match with a career-high 25 kills, eclipsing her previous career-high of 23 in a five-set win over nationally-ranked UW-Whitewater on September 18. Bradley hit .300 and had 15 digs. Moore had 15 kills and hit .341 while digging up eight balls. Van Appledorn and Schipper had six kills apiece while Boa had five kills, a solo block and two block assists and four digs to with one service ace. Freshman setter Olivia Peterson (Muskegon, Mich./North Muskegon HS) had 36 assists, three kills, three block assists and five digs.

Junior Lina Kasuboski (Racine, Wisc./Union Grove HS) had three big service aces and 15 digs. Spoelma came off the bench to provide 11 assists and five digs. Vander Zwaag had a match-high 26 digs along with a pair of aces. Steen had 20 digs, two service aces and an assist. Junior Sarah Jensen (Barrington, Ill./Barrington HS) came off the bench in set four to provide four key digs.

Hope was paced by senior Kamryn Burbridge who tallied 17 kills and a .359 hitting percentage to go with three solo blocks and six block assists. Junior Angie Butler had 11 kills. Senior Kathyrn Oates had 24 digs. Sophomore Brooke Hehl had 40 assists.

COACHES COMMENT: "A total team effort," said Calvin head women's volleyball coach Amber Warners. "I thought we came out a little tentative but as the match moved along, we gained confidence and started playing with confidence. Super proud of this group for pulling together for the win. We know we have a very difficult match ahead of us on Saturday and we held back a bit on our celebration after the match because of that. We need to keep our engines fueled and be ready for a very strong Albion team Saturday night. A thank you to the fans for coming out to support women's college volleyball tonight. Come back again Saturday for another great match!"

NEXT UP: Calvin will host Albion at 5 p.m. Saturday at Van Noord Arena with first place in the MIAA on the line. The match will take place after the Calvin-Albion football game (1 p.m.) also set for Saturday on the Calvin campus. During halftime of the football game, the 2016 Calvin women's volleyball national championship team will be recognized with the group coming back to campus for its 10-year anniversary reunion.