The Hope College athletics department had a strong school year, once again winning the MIAA Commissioner’s Cup as the top all-sports school in the conference.

Here is a look at the top five stories of the school year:

Hope-Calvin rivalry sees first football showdown

GRAND RAPIDS – If there was any doubt about the emotions of playing in the first Hope-Calvin football game, it was erased on Hope’s second play from scrimmage.

In addition to the bragging rights of winning the first edition of The Rivalry, Hope needed a win to clinch a share of the MIAA title and the automatic bid into the NCAA Division III playoffs.

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The Flying Dutchmen reached those goals with an energized 38-7 win over the Knights on Saturday afternoon at Grand Rapids Christian High School in front of a sold-out crowd of more than 4,800.

“I am super proud of our guys. How many teams in the country are 9-0? Winning in college football is hard. We jumped out pretty quickly and we are going to enjoy this because we know we will have an extended season in the D-III playoffs,” Hope coach Peter Stuursma said. “My grandfather (Fuzz Van Faasen) played in this rivalry in basketball in 1937. Honored to be part of it and this is something our guys will never forget.”

Volleyball reaches NCAA final for second year in a row

SALEM, Va. – It couldn’t have started any better for Hope.

But that just made the end result even more excruciating.

Up two sets over No. 1 Juniata in the rematch of last year’s NCAA championship final, Hope couldn’t finish off the top-ranked Eagles and fell 18-25, 22-25, 25-20, 25-15, 15-11 on Thursday in the Division III national semifinals.

It was the end of an incredible run for Hope (25-3) that saw the Flying Dutch reach the Final Four for the second year in a row – meaning another banner is coming soon to DeVos Fieldhouse – and fourth time overall.

“The journey that brought these players to our program and journey they have been through together has been really special. It hasn’t always been easy, but it has been good. I am incredibly proud of this team. It is an emotional game. It is one of the things we love about it,” Hope coach Becky Schmidt said. “I appreciated the fight of that match. There were a lot of moments of consequence in that match and Juniata started playing freer in sets 3-4-5. We struggled to put balls down against their defense and that was the match.”

Hope women swim to top 10 finish in NCAA for first time in 23 years

To say it was a historic NCAA meet for the Hope College women’s swim team would be an understatement.

The Flying Dutch earned a plethora All-American finishes, some in events they haven’t seen that same success in for multiple decades.

It turned into a top 10 finish at the NCAA Division III Championships on Saturday – for the first time in 23 years – as the Flying Dutch took ninth with 139 points. MIT won the meet with 497.

“Our women stated at the beginning of the season they wanted to be Top 10,” Hope coach Jake Taber said. “That doesn’t happen by accident. They worked hard. The fun, energy and resilience we had on the pool deck this week and throughout the season led us to that. This week, we embraced the opportunity and had a blast playing our sport.”

Hope basketball teams both miss NCAA tourney

GRAND RAPIDS – For the first time in 20 years, it appears neither the Hope men or Hope women will be in the NCAA tournament.

The Hope women last missed the tournament in 2012, but the men made it that year. It has been since 2005 that neither team was headed to the big dance.

The Hope women missed out after losing to Calvin in the MIAA semifinals.

The Hope men needed to win the MIAA Tournament, as they had the past three years, to reach the NCAA tournament, and came up just short with a 62-59 loss at Calvin in the final.

“We had the effort, energy and preparation. That is why it hurts,” Hope coach Greg Mitchell said. “The biggest thing is I hurt so much for our six seniors. That is as devastating a locker room as I have been in for a long time, maybe ever. We were so determined and that is how we played. Four straight years of getting to this spot is outstanding. I just wish we could have finished it four them.”

Track coach Kevin Cole retires

Kevin Cole is officially retired as Hope College track and field coach and has left quite a legacy.

Cole has guided Hope women’s and men’s teams to seven combined MIAA championships while coaching 40 NCAA Division III All-Americans and nearly 200 all-conference student-athletes.

“It just is the right time,” Cole said. “I was given the opportunity to step back into teaching full-time, which is also a passion of mine – and it is not something that just comes around every year. It has been great. It has been a dream come true. I graduated from Hope and I always wanted to come back and coach here. Not many people can say they have had their dream job.”

Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.