The Basics 
• Score: Johns Hopkins - 3 • Millikin - 0
• Records: Johns Hopkins (1-0) • Millikin (1-1)
• Location: Hoboken, N.J. • Canavan Arena
• The Short Story: In Matt Troy's return to the Hopkins sideline, the Blue Jays opened the 2019 season with a three-set sweep over Millikin University.

How it Happened

SET ONE
• The Big Blue jumped out to an early lead, with Rose Syversen notching aces for the first two points of the match.
• With the score tied at 8-8, senior captain Louisa Kishton sparked a 5-0 scoring run for Hopkins at the service line, giving the Blue Jays a lead they would not relinquish in the first set.
• Junior Simone Bliss closed out the opening frame with three straight kills to give Hopkins a 25-16 first set win.

SET TWO
• Hopkins wasted little time jumping in front in the second set, scoring the first five points and seven out of the first nine to take an early command.
• Kishton closed out a 25-14 second set victory with one of her team-high three aces on the night.

SET THREE
• A back-and-forth third set opened with the teams exchanging each of the first ten points. The Blue Jays never trailed by more than two throughout the third, while never extending a lead larger than four.
• Trailing 22-24, Hopkins fought off a pair of set-points from Millikin. Sophomore Eleni Panagopoulos recorded a kill to bring the score to 23-24, before an attacking error by Marie Gerbasi evened the score at 24-24.
• The teams would continue to exchange points before junior Natalie Aston's ace finally gave Hopkins match point at 32-31. Panagopolous ended the night with her sixth kill to give the Jays a straight-set win in the season opener.

What it Means
• Hopkins has won four of its last five season openers.
• Head coach Matt Troy is 3-1 in season openers at Johns Hopkins, and has now won eight consecutive regular season matches at the helm of the Blue Jays, dating back to 2012.
 
Inside the Box Score
• Kishton and Bliss opened the season where they left off, leading the Blue Jays with 15 kills each.
• Johns Hopkins hit .406 as a team while only recording seven attacking errors. In comparison, Hopkins averaged a .240 hitting percentage last season and averaged nearly 18 attacking errors per match.  
• In her first match back since 2017, Aston totaled 38 assists and nine digs.
• Junior Nicole Hada led the Jays with 14 digs on the night.

Up Next
• The Blue Jays will return to Canavan Arena tomorrow for a pair of matches. Hopkins will take on the host Ducks of Stevens Tech at 1 p.m. before battling with Roger Williams at 3 p.m.

Be sure to follow the Blue Jays all season long on Twitter (@JHUVB) and on Instagram (@johnshopkinsvolleyball).