The ninth-ranked Hope College volleyball team clinched the No. 1 seed for the upcoming MIAA Tournament with a bit of dramatic flair.

The Flying Dutch fought off three set points in the third set, rallying to finish off Alma College, 25-13, 25-14, 28-26, on Saturday at DeVos Fieldhouse.

Hope (20-5 overall) improved to 7-0 in MIAA play and secured at least a share of the program's 17th MIAA regular-season championship.

The Flying Dutch scored the final three points of the match on a kill from junior Kamryn Burbridge (Grand Haven, Michigan / Grand Haven), an Alma attack error and a kill from senior Ella Contant (Elmhurst, Illinois / York Community).

Head coach Becky Schmidt praised her team's resilience.

"All the credit in the world to Alma; they did some really nice things against us. They delayed their on-swings a little bit and got our block off balance," Schmidt said. "We've got to make better adjustments earlier, but I'm really impressed by the way we came back and found ways to get control back in the set."

The victory makes Hope a three-time MIAA champion for the second time in program history and the first since 1995-96.

The Flying Dutch can secure the outright title on Friday, Nov. 7, at 6:30 p.m. Fans can receive free admission to the match by bringing nonperishable food items in support of Community Action House's Food Club.

Hope secured the top seed against Alma (9-15, 2-5 MIAA) because it holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over second-place Calvin University.

Contant recorded a match-high 11 kills against the Scots. Burbridge added nine kills and three blocks, while sophomore Olivia Wyma (Hartland, Wisconsin / Arrowhead) contributed nine kills.

Senior Lauren Lee (Plymouth, Michigan / Skyline) totaled 40 assists as she continues her quest to become the Flying Dutch's first setter with 5,000 career assists. Hope's all-time assists leader has 4,905 assists after the Alma match.

Senior Kathryn Oates (Liberty, Ohio / Cincinnati Christian) led the defense with 19 digs.