Alma, Mich. - The Alma College volleyball team took a 3-0 loss to No. 19 Hope College on the chin Tuesday (Sept. 24) evening. It was the first Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association match of the season for either team.

The Scots (8-5, 0-1 MIAA) struggled to get their offense going throughout the match against the stingy Flying Dutch defense. Alma's performed best in the third set, hitting .132 with 11 kills. It ran up a 13-6 lead early in the set and forced Hope to call both its timeouts, but couldn't keep the momentum throughout the rest of the set. The Flying Dutch reeled off 19 of the next 23 points to earn the victory.

Haley Ullrich (Elk River, Minn. / Elk River) led Alma with seven kills on a .400 hit percentage. Sara Majerle (Rockford, Mich. / Rockford) posted six kills and Naomi Mason (Kaleva, Mich. / Brethren) and Kylie Sicken (Shelby Twp., Mich. / Utica Eisenhower) each had three. Haley Novak (Midland, Mich. / Bullock Creek) had 17 assists; Georgia Miller (Georgetown, Ky. / Scott County) had 13 digs.

Hope (11-3, 1-0 MIAA) hit .300 as a team and were led by McKenna Otto with 11 kills, Ana Grunewald with eight kills, and Tracy Westra with seven kills and 17 assists.

Alma will look to shake off the loss with a trip to Kalamazoo on Saturday (Sept. 28). The Scots will face the Hornets at 11:00 a.m. and the Defiance Yellow Jackets in a neutral-site game at 1:00 p.m.