Contact us 7837570873
Subscribe
Search
Home International Kate Van Appledorn powers Calvin to five-set comeback thriller over Hope for...

Kate Van Appledorn powers Calvin to five-set comeback thriller over Hope for MIAA title

By
admin
-
0
1

1 / 34

Hope College vs. Calvin women’s volleyball photo gallery

The Hope College women’s volleyball team travels to Calvin on Wednesday, Oct. 21.

(Adam Vander Kooy/Holland Sentinel)

GRAND RAPIDS – Tied 10-10 in the fifth set, Hope’s top hitter looked ready to slam a kill and seize the momentum.

Calvin’s Kate Van Appledorn had other ideas.

The Holland Christian graduate blocked the spike, then tipped a kill on the next play to lead the Knights to a comeback win in five sets to claim the MIAA Tournament title and earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament on Saturday, Nov. 14, at Van Noord Arena.

Advertisement

“It was so exciting. I just try to be available in pressure situations and show confidence because I trust my team and they trust me,” Van Appledorn said. “I was more ready as a blocker. We are so excited to have this confidence going into the NCAA tournament.”

More: Tryna VanderZwaag reaches milestone, pushes Calvin past Hope with resilience

The Knights won 21-25, 25-20, 20-25, 25-21, 15-12 to head to the NCAA tournament at 25-3.

The fifth set was tied at 3-5-6-7-9-9-10-12 before MIAA MVP Sarah Bradley put a kill down and the Knights hung on.

The Hope College women's volleyball team travels to Calvin on Wednesday, Oct. 21.

The Hope College women’s volleyball team travels to Calvin on Wednesday, Oct. 21.

“Hope played good defense and did well with their serving. They are much improved from the last time we saw them. Halfway through the fourth set, we talked about playing to win instead of not playing to lose. That really flipped us,” Calvin coach Amber Warners said. “Kate is getting more confidence and we are working on getting her a more efficient arm swing. I think she played with a little chip on her shoulder tonight, wanting to show what she can do. Nothing shakes her, and we needed her tonight.”

Advertisement

Van Appledorn finished with 11 kills and four blocks.

Tough end for Hope

Hope finished the season 19-9. A season that saw the Flying Dutch knock off the No. 1 team in the country, and finish a couple of points from the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

“It was a hard-fought match for sure. It was a battle of first contact. We served tough, but we had a hard time timing our block against their outsides,” Hope coach Becky Schmidt said. “We really wanted it for our seniors to be able to have a shot at continuing this ride a little bit longer.”

It is the first time Hope will not be in the NCAA tournament since 2017 and just the second time since 2005.

Advertisement

Hope senior nets milestone

Hope senior Kamryn Burbridge passed 1,000 career kills in the match.

It came in the third set, putting the Flying Dutch up 17-15 in set they would win.

Burbridge and libero Kathryn Oates are the seniors in the regular rotation that will graduate.

Burbridge was All-MIAA all four seasons as a middle hitter. She was all-region the past two.

She had nine kills and four blocks in the match.

“Kam has been our rock all season,” Schmidt said. “She is one of the most dynamic, if not the most dynamic middle we have ever had in our program. Her blocking, attacking, she is playing on another level.”

Advertisement

Oates totaled 21 digs.

“Kate Oates is just a champ.” Schmidt said.

The set up

The first set was tied at 13-14-15-16-17. A Hope ace made it 18-17 and forced a Calvin timeout. Another ace by Brooke Hehl pushed the lead to 20-17 and the Knights took their second timeout.

Angie Butler slammed a kill before Hope put down a huge block to lead 22-17, a 5-0 run. Butler put another one down and Kiera Morrison slammed two to win it 25-21. Butler put down seven kills in the opening set.

The second set saw Calvin out to a 10-5 lead. Hope pulled within 16-15 after a couple of kills from Maddie Ostrander. But the Knights didn’t give up the lead and hung on for a 25-21 win on an ace from Lina Kasuboski to tie the match 1-1.

Advertisement

Hope built a 5-1 lead to start the third. Burbridge made it 8-3 with a crosscourt kill. Ostrander kept going with a kill then an ace to push it to 14-10. Morrison put down two big kills to make it 22-19. Burbridge added another and Amelia Gagnon aced a serve on set point for a 25-20 win and a 2-1 lead in the set.

In the fourth, Tryna VanderZwaag served up an ace to put the Knights up 8-6. An ace from Kasuboski and block by Sarah Bradley pushed the lead to 14-10. A kill from Kate Van Appledorn made it 17-13, a tip as the Knights found success with tipping. She then slammed one in the middle for a 20-16 lead and the Knights won 25-21 to send it to a fifth set.

By the numbers

Butler finished with 18 kills to lead Hope, Morrison had 17 and Ostrander had eight to go along with six blocks.

Advertisement

Hehl dished out 45 assists and added nine digs. Oates finished with 21 digs and Gagnon had 14.

The Knights were led by Bradley with 21 kills and 20 digs. VanderZwaag had 22 digs and eight assists. Olivia Peterson posted 47 assists.

Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as  Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.   

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Kate Van Appledorn powers Calvin to five-set comeback thriller over Hope for MIAA title

Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

EDITOR PICKS

POPULAR POSTS

POPULAR CATEGORY

© @downthenews all rights reserved