Volleyball: Comets swept by No. 3 Hope

HOLLAND, Mich. – The Olivet College volleyball team traveled to the DeVos Fieldhouse in Holland to play No. 3 Hope College tonight and was a dealt a three-set loss (25-17, 25-14, 25-11) loss to the Flying Dutch.

Hope scored the first three points of the opening set before the Comets answered with straight points to tie the score at 3-3. The Flying Dutch responded with their own 3-0 scoring run to gain a 6-3 lead. Hope did not give up the lead for the remainder of the set.

After the Flying Dutch opened the second set with a 2-0 lead, Olivet put four consecutive points on the board for a 4-2 lead. The Comets stretched their lead to 8-5 until Hope went on a 4-0 run to gain a 9-8 lead. Olivet tied the set at 9-9 on a Dutch attack error. Hope then scored eight straight points to take control of the set. The Comets trimmed their deficit down to five points, 17-12, but never got any closer.

The Flying Dutch never trailed in the third set. Olivet was only behind by one point, 7-6. Hope scored 15 of the next 18 points for its largest lead, 22-9.

For the match, senior Stefanie Lang recorded a team-leading nine kills, while posting a .286 attack percentage. Junior Marissa Guile was next with six kills, followed by sophomore Gabrielle Trudell had four. Senior Taylor Pringle led the team with 15 set assists. Sophomore Mona Hinamanu finished with 14 digs.

The Comets (2-6, 1-3 MIAA) are idle until next Tuesday, Sept. 16, when they host Alma College. First serve inside The Cutler Event Center is 6:30 p.m.