The Hope College women’s basketball team is ranked No. 1 in the D3hoops.com preseason poll.
The Flying Dutch received 21 of 24 possible first-place votes and topped the rankings with 617 points.
The rest of the top five featured East Texas Baptist University with 555 points and three first-place votes, Trine University with 522 points, Whitman College (Washington)with 431 points, and Messiah College (Pennsylvania) with 429 points.
Hope returns three starters from last season’s team that went 16-0 and finished No. 1 in the final D3hoops.com poll: All-Americans and All-MIAA First honorees Kenedy Schoonveld and Olivia Voskuil and All-MIAA First Team selection Sydney Muller.
Led by head coach Brian Morehouse, the Flying Dutch have won a school-record 45 games in a row, which is the eighth-longest streak in NCAA Division III women’s basketball history.
Hope tips off the season on Friday, Oct. 29, at 5:30 p.m. with an exhibition against Division II Ferris State University.