Local standouts fuel Hope volleyball’s national runner-up finish

Hope Volleyball team 2023. (Dec. 10, 2023)

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The Hope College volleyball team’s latest postseason run was a memorable one.

It also was an emotional one for former Grandville standout Liz VanderSlice.

VanderSlice, a junior outside hitter for the Flying Dutch, followed the same path as her late father, Chris VanderSlice, in helping her team reach the NCAA Division III title game.

“It was definitely really emotional with my family connections to Hope, and October and November are emotional times with my dad’s birthday and when he passed away,” VanderSlice said. “I didn’t process that I was doing what my dad had done when he was here for basketball and it didn’t hit me until we got to California and it was being talked about.

“I was having the same experience that he had with going to the finals,” VanderSlice added.

Hope finished as national runner-up last weekend after a three-set loss to top-ranked Juniata College (Pa.).

It was only the second time in program history that it had reached the finals after winning in 2014.

The Flying Dutch ended with a 32-3 record and set a NCAA record by winning four consecutive five-set matches in the tournament.

Twenty-five years ago, Chris VanderSlice helped lead the men’s basketball team to a national runner-up finish.

He passed away six years ago after a four-year battle with cancer. 

“It wasn’t just the last game that was emotional,” said Liz VanderSlice, who wore her dad’s NCAA Championships watch during the tournament. “It was the semifinals and the quarterfinals. When we prayed, I would cry before games and one of my teammates would give me a big hug.

“I wasn’t expecting to be that emotional and it was more emotional than I thought it was going to be,” VanderSlice added. “It was so much fun playing and getting to that point and I thought about him a lot as far as my attitude and showing grit. Our whole team talked a lot about grit in the locker room.”

The loss in the national title match didn’t diminish the incredible season Hope produced.

“We had mixed emotions,” VanderSlice said. “Of course we wanted to win, but we were all still very proud of the run we had. Going through those five-setters was just so much fun to compete in and we came together and were able to step up for each other.”

Besides VanderSlice, Hope’s roster included several former high school players from the West Michigan area.

Former Grand Rapids Christian star Addie VanderWeide, a 6-foot-1 junior who transferred from the University of Iowa, was named as the AVCA Co-National Player of the year along with Juniata College (Pa.) setter Olivia Foley.

She became the first in program…