Hope's McKenna Otto dives after a loose ball during an MIAA Tournament semifinal vs. Albion. Photo by Steve Herppich
VOLLEYBALL
McKenna Otto, Ana Grunewald, Maggie Wehrmeyer, and Charlotte Brecht all delivered for the Hope College volleyball team in big ways this spring.
Each has received All-Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association honors from the league’s coaches on Monday: Otto and Grunewald as repeat first-team selections, Brecht and Wehrmeyer as second-team honorees, and Wehrmeyer as the MIAA Freshman of the Year.
Otto is a three-time honoree. The junior middle hitter and biomedical/biomechanical engineering major averaged 3.41 kills and 1.0 block per set this season. Otto (Wheaton, Illinois / Wheaton North HS) also recorded a .270 hitting percentage.
Grunewald is a two-time honoree. The junior outside hitter and biomedical/biomechanical engineering major led the Flying Dutch with 3.47 kills per set. Grunewald (Grand Rapids, Michigan / East Grand Rapids) also averaged 2.52 digs per set.
Wehrmeyer is Hope’s fourth MIAA Freshman of the Year, joining a select Flying Dutch group features Otto (2018), Jenna Grasmeyer (2011), and Kara VandeGuchte (2007). Wehrmeyer (Holland, Michigan / West Ottawa) started all 10 games at libero this season.
SOFTBALL
Eight runs per game, with one big inning in each, were the macro and micro-ingredients that propelled the Hope College softball team to a doubleheader sweep of Saint Mary’s College on Monday.
The Flying Dutch won the opener, 8-3, courtesy of a five-run fourth inning, and then claimed the second game, 8-6, thanks to four-run sixth inning.
Both wins count in the MIAA standings and move Hope’s record to 11-1 in the league, good for second place. The Flying Dutch have a 20-8 overall record. Saint Mary’s falls to .500 in the MIAA with a 6-6 record while being 11-13 overall.
Flying Dutch home runs keyed big moments in each game, especially in Game 2.
Junior third baseman Bre Nolan (Metamora, Mich./Lapeer HS), pictured right, cracked two homers to left field, one in the second inning and one in the fourth, and accounted for three RBIs in the nightcap. Senior catcher Morgann Kanouse (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac HS), pictured left, also added two more RBIs off of her own home run to left in the fifth inning to make the score, 8-2.
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