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ELMHURST, Ill. – The 18th-ranked Otterbein University volleyball team gave a gritty performance Friday evening, but eventually suffered a hard-fought 25-20, 15-25, 21-25, 22-25 loss to No. 2 Hope College (Mich.) in the second round of the NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Tournament.

Hope (31-2) advances to play in the regional final Saturday evening after eliminating Otterbein for a third-straight season. The Flying Dutch will square off against host and fifth-ranked Elmhurst College, 3-0 winners over the University of Washington-St. Louis.

The Cardinals won six of the first eight points to open the match, but Hope responded to later take a 10-9 lead before opening a three-point edge midway through the set.

Otterbein hung close, eventually getting three game-changing solo blocks from middle Krystin Estes to seize an 18-17 advantage and force a Hope timeout.

Flying Dutch head coach Becky Schmidt was forced to use her second and final timeout of the first frame after the Cards opened a 23-20 margin, and Cardinal setter Tabatha Piper blocked Hope's Jenna Grasmeyer out of the break for a 24-20 lead.

A kill from senior Annie Juenger on the ensuing play would propel Otterbein to the 1-0 lead, marking the first time in five tries that Otterbein had taken a set from Hope.

"I thought that win in the first set gave us a lot of confidence," junior Kim Barker said. "It was unfortunate that we couldn't carry it all the way, but I think we realized that we had some fuel to use in the next three sets."

Hope clung to 9-8 lead in the second after three-straight Cardinal points, but widened the margin back to four, 13-9, in forcing an Otterbein timeout. The Cards managed to capture another three-consecutive points after finding themselves down 20-11, but the deficit would be too much as Hope drew even.

The Flying Dutch maintained their momentum to begin the third, sprinting out to an 8-1 edge before a kill from Barker stopped the run. Otterbein began to chip away at the lead, going on an 8-2 surge that brought the team within one, 11-10.

Hope regained control at 19-14 before the Cardinals answered with three-straight points. The Flying Dutch would ultimately hold on, however, winning the frame 25-21 for a 2-1 lead in the match.

Both sides traded points during the early stages of the fourth game, with Hope finding a little breathing room at 11-8. The Cardinals rattled off four-consecutive points for a 12-11 lead, and back-to-back service aces from junior Evelyn Carus out of a Hope timeout bumped the advantage to 14-11.

Otterbein opened leads of 19-16 and 20-17 down the stretch, but two questionable calls against the Cards, coupled with a pair of Hope points, brought the game to 20-20.

Hope setter Lauren Hazekamp went over the scorer's table to keep a ball in play moments later with her team leading 23-21, and the Flying Dutch eventually won the long rally to force match point. The Cards fought off the first point, but Hope would eventually survive and secure the win.

"Despite the loss, I was so impressed with our mental effort tonight," head coach Monica McDonald said. "It was a great match with exciting points and was played the way an NCAA match should be played. I didn't expect to challenge them without a gritty performance, and that's what we had tonight."

Piper and Barker each tallied nine kills to lead the charge offensively, with Piper also handing out 23 assists and earning a spot on the All-Regional team. Libero Gracie Staten was impressive again in the back, finishing with a match-best 23 digs.

Juenger, playing in her last collegiate match, turned in nine digs, three kills, two blocks and a service ace. The Cards gave a strong performance from the serve line, roping off 13 service aces compared to just one for the Flying Dutch.

"Their serve receive was up pretty shallow, so we just tried to send the ball deep," Barker explained. "We stayed aggressive and kept banging our serves as much as possible. I think we were able to frustrate them in that area."

Hope was led by first-team All-American Jenna Grasmeyer, who put down 18 kills to go along with 11 digs. Hazekamp also recorded a double-double, distributing a match-high 39 assists to accompany 15 digs.

Otterbein finishes the year with its highest win total in a single-season (27), winning the school's first-ever NCAA Tournament match in the process.

"It was awesome to be a part of this group throughout the year," redshirt freshman Maddy Shelley said. "We came together as a team from beginning to end, and to win our program's first NCAA match just adds to everything."