Nov. 10, 2013

Box Score

LANCASTER, PA - The Johns Hopkins volleyball team became the first fourth-seed in conference history to take home the Centennial Conference Tournament title on Sunday afternoon. Hopkins defeated third-seeded Muhlenberg, 3-1, to claim its third title in as many seasons. The Jays won 25-11, 21-25, 25-23, 25-10 and junior Meagan Donohoe was named CC Tournament MVP after totaling 50 kills, 17 digs and seven block assists in the tournament.

Hopkins earns the conference's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament, as the Blue Jays will make their third straight appearance in the tournament. The NCAA selection show is scheduled for 11:00 am on Monday, November 11. Tune into to http://www.ncaa.com/championships to see where the Blue Jays will continue their season.

"We're really excited about winning the conference for the third straight year," said head coach Tim Cole. "This is the strongest the conference has been in a long time, and we feel like we beat three pretty solid teams. We want to build on this and carry the momentum into next weekend [the NCAAs]. We're healthy and we're playing well, so we feel good about where we are right now. Our goal at the start of the season was to go well beyond the conference tournament, so this isn't the top of the mountain for us."

On the Blue Jays' strength of schedule this season, Cole commented "It has been an uphill battle this season with our strength of schedule. We had to redefine what a successful day in the practice gym is and what a successful day competing is. The way we go about things has become more important than the result and its nice when the method and the result are the same."

Hopkins jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the match with a 25-11 win in the first set. With the match tied at two, Hopkins went on a 9-1 run to push out to an 11-3 lead. Sophomore Stephanie Yokoyama got the run going by serving up five straight points, including a service ace that made it 6-2. After an Allison Glass kill for the Mules pulled the three seed within four at 7-3, Carolyn Zin served the Blue Jays to four straight points and JHU led 11-3. Muhlenberg could get no closer than seven the rest of the way and Hopkins took the first set on a Mules' error.

Muhlenberg tied the match overall with a 25-21 in the second set. It was a tightly contested set early on as the teams traded rallies. The Mules took a 10-8 lead on a Sarah Weyhmuller kill and reeled off four straight points, including three aces, to push out to a 13-8 lead. The teams traded points and the Mules led 15-11 but the Blue Jays got back into with with a Donohoe kill and three straight points off Yokoyama's serve. With the lead cut to just one at 15-14, Muhlenberg answered with a six-point spurt to take a 21-14 lead. Hopkins cut into the lead with three unanswered points off a Zin ace and a pair of Donohoe kills. Muhlenberg was able to hang on and closed out the set on a Weyhmuller kill.

The Blue Jays battled back and won a hard-fought third set by a 25-23 score. Muhlenberg jumped out to a 6-3 lead and eventually held a 9-4 lead before Hopkins rallied to take a 12-11 lead on a Muhlenberg error. The teams traded points back-and-forth and with the match tied at 19, the Blue Jays went on a 5-2 run to force set point at 24-21. The Mules cut the deficit in half but a blocking error and a Donohoe kill gave the set to the Jays.

Hopkins closed out the match with a 25-10 win in the fourth set. Hopkins took a quick 3-0 lead in the fourth but the points swung back-and-forth and JHU led 6-5. The Blue Jays then went on a 9-2 run to push out to a 15-7 lead. The Mules got a point back on an Erin Murphy kill. But Hopkins would close out the set and the match with a 10-2 run with junior Ellen Rogers ending things with her seventh kill of the match.

Donohoe led the way for the Blue Jays with a game-high 20 kills, her fourth 20-kill match of the season. She also had three digs and two block assists. Sophomore Ali Cox also finished with double-digit kills, tying her season-high with 11.Yokoyama had a game-high 14 digs, while junior Mariel Metalios totaled 28 assists and 11 digs, and Zin had 17 assists. Glass and Joanne Josephson led the Mules with eight kills apiece, while Nikki Dickson had 16 assists and Vanessa Pulice had 13 and Chelsea Kaser added 11 digs.