Volleyball Ranked Seventh in AVCA NCAA Division III Poll
The Hope College volleyball team opens the 2021 fall season ranked seventh in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Preseason Poll.
The Flying Dutch, led by head coach Becky Schmidt, rose two spots from the final AVCA poll of the 2021 spring season.
Hope’s 50th season begins on Friday-Saturday, September 3-4 at the University of Chicago’s Gargoyle Classic.
The Flying Dutch are coming off a 9-1 spring season in 2021 that included a 6-1 mark in MIAA regular-season play. Hope won three matches to claim its fourth MIAA Tournament title.
Three-time All-MIAA First Team honoree McKenna Otto and two-time All-MIAA First Team selection Ana Grunewald lead Hope's group of returners.
Otto is a senior middle hitter and biomedical/biomechanical engineering major from Wheaton, Illinois (Wheaton North). Grunewald is a senior outside hitter and biomedical/biomechanical engineering major from Grand Rapids, Michigan (East Grand Rapids).
Hope also returns a pair of All-MIAA Second Team honorees: Charlotte Brecht and Maggie Wehrmeyer.
Brecht is a junior middle hitter and biology major from Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan (Grosse Pointe South). Wehrmeyer is a sophomore libero from Holland, Michigan (West Ottawa).