The women's basketball Final Four returns to Hope, where Howard Payne and George Fox won Walnut and Bronze. D3sports.com file photo by Josh Bowerman

The women's basketball Final Four will return to the DeVos Center at Hope College in Holland, Mich., where the 2012 and 2013 Division III national champions will be crowned. The school will also host the women's volleyball championships the same year. 

The men's basketball Final Four was recently re-upped for the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Va., for the 2012 and 2013 championships, where it has been held since 1996.

"That the NCAA has chosen Hope College to host four national championships in two sports for two years in a row speaks volumes to the quality of this campus, this community, and this facility," said co-athletic director Eva Dean Folkert. "Most of all, it speaks highly of the quality of Hope and Holland people who make these tournaments so special and so well-run. We have received rave reviews from NCAA personnel, athletic participants, parents and fans from our hosting of past national events." 

This is the first time the NCAA has chosen to return the women's basketball Final Four to a previous host since the event was first awarded to a predetermined neutral site for the 1999 season.

Hope hosted the 2008 and 2009 women's basketball Final Fours. Illinois Wesleyan hosted in 2010 and will host again in 2011.

"The economic impact of sporting events such as these is significant," said Sally Laukitis, executive director of the Holland Visitors Bureau. "We anticipate the direct economic impact on the Holland community (hotels, restaurants, and retail businesses) will exceed $1,000,000 for each of these weekend events. The fact that these premier NCAA championships occur in March and November, as opposed to our prime tourist season, is an added benefit to the Holland area."