The Basics 
• Scores: #1 Johns Hopkins-3, Randolph-Macon (21-25, 25-20, 25-21, 22-25, 15-9)
• Records: #1 Johns Hopkins (24-0, 8-0 CC), RMC (15-6, 9-1 ODAC)
• Location: Ashland, VA • Crenshaw Gymnasium
• The Short Story: The top-ranked Johns Hopkins Blue Jays were taken to five sets for just the second time this year before ultimately prevailing in a 3-2 victory over Randolph-Macon on Saturday morning.

How it Happened 

1st Set
• Despite falling behind early, Randolph-Macon used a 9-1 run late to take a first set 25-21 victory over the Blue Jays.  

• The Blue Jays did what they often do as they jumped out ahead 4-0, getting an ace from Natalie Aston and a kill from Eleni Panagopoulos. R-MC took four of the next six points, cutting the Blue Jay lead to 6-4.
 
 • Aston and Lauren Anthony picked up kills to help put Hopkins on top 9-4, but a service error sparked a Yellow Jacket run. Grace Parker picked up a pair of kills for the Yellow Jackets as they scored five straight to tie things at 9-9.
 
• R-MC jumped ahead 12-10, but Elayna Williams picked up a kill and Anthony served up an ace to tie things back up at 12-12. A pair of Sydney Portale kills made it 17-15 Blue Jays a few moments later, but that's when Randolph-Macon ripped off the big run.
 
•Sydney Koch had four kills during the run as the Yellow Jackets jumped ahead 23-18. Danielle Norman and Aston added kills to try and fight back, but Parker ended the set with a kill for a 25-21 R-MC set victory.  

2nd Set
• JHU bounced back in the second. Despite trailing 8-5, the Blue Jays used a similar run to R-MC's, going on an 11-3 run to help them tie the contest at one set apiece.
 
• Trailing 8-5, Hopkins got kills from Norman and Anthony and a pair of attack errors to cut the deficit to 10-9. Williams added a kill and the Yellow Jackets committed another attacking error, tying things at 11-11. 
 
• After losing the next two points to fall behind 11-13, the Blue Jays flipped the switch. Chidinma Onukwugha started the run with a pair of kills to tie it at 13-13. Panagopoulos added another, followed by two Yellow Jacket attack errors for a 16-13 Hopkins lead.
 
• R-MC got one back, but Norman picked up a kill, Sarah Khan had two aces and Anthony and Onukwugha combined for a block to make the Blue Jay lead 20-14.
 
• The Yellow Jackets trimmed it to 23-20, but Williams registered the final two kills of the set for JHU.

3rd Set 
• Maybe the most back-and-forth set of the match resulted in a Hopkins 25-21 victory. The Blue Jays led 9-5 early and trailed 17-14 in the middle before coming away with a four-point win.

• Hopkins took an early 6-2 lead, getting a pair of kills from Williams, kills from Panagopoulos and Onukwugha and an ace from Aston. Another kill from Onukwugha and an ace from Khan made it 9-5 Blue Jays before a 4-0 run for R-MC tied it at 9-9.  

• Leading 13-12, Hopkins dropped five of the next six points as Parker, Koch and Danielle LaRosa all had kills for the Yellow Jackets. Having an outstanding match off the bench, Onukwugha ended the Jackets run to start one for Hopkins.
 
• Onukwugha's kill made it 15-17 before Norman had back-to-back kills to tie it at 17-17. The next five points of the match came via errors before Koch tied it at 20 with a kill for R-MC.
 
• JHU scored five of the last six for the set win. Onukwugha, Aston and Norman had kills to take care of business and win the set.  
 
4th Set 
• Tied at 22-22, R-MC won the final three points of set four to defeat Hopkins 25-22 and force them to a fifth set for just the second time in 2021.
 
• R-MC used an early 4-0 run to jump ahead 5-3, but Williams and Onukwugha picked up kills to tie things at 5-5. Trailing 9-7, JHU took four straight points to get ahead 11-9. Norman and Williams continued to make things tough on the Yellow Jackets with a kill each.
 
• Randolph-Macon took five of the next eight, tying the set at 14 with back-to-back kills from Madison Warlick.
 
• Hopkins jumped back ahead 18-16 with a pair of kills from Norman and one from Panagopoulos, but Warlick added a kill and a Hopkins attack error tied us right back up at 18.
 
• Hopkins took three of the next four, getting two kills from Norman and an ace from Roxy Karrer, but Randolph-Macon scored six of the final seven to force a final set.
 
• Parker had two kills, the Blue Jays had a pair of attack errors and Megan Bost picked up a kill to end the set 25-22 in R-MC's favor.
 
 
5th Set
• Playing into the fifth set for just the second time this season, JHU used a 6-1 run to ultimately fend off the Yellow Jackets for their 59^th straight victory.
 
• Norman and Panagopoulos had kills to start Hopkins up 2-0, but R-MC tied it right back up at 2-2. Both teams traded back and forth with a Hopkins attack error making it a 6-5 game.
 
• The Blue Jays took the next five points, getting three kills from Norman, a kill from Williams and an ace from Evelyn Batista to jump ahead 11-5. Koch ended the run with a kill, but Norman added her 20^th kill of the match and Panagopoulos chipped in another to put JHU up 13-6.
 
• R-MC took the next two points, but Panagopoulos ended up registering the final three kills of the match for Hopkins, putting away the third set 15-9 to keep the Jays unbeaten.


Inside the Box Score
• Norman reached a career high in kills, totaling 20 for the match on 56 swings, good for a .232 clip. The sophomore outside had 18 kills and 19 kills in back-to-back matches earlier this season, but hit her career-high in the fifth set with four kills. Norman nearly went 20-20, adding 19 digs in the match.
 
• Panagopoulos was second on the team with 12 kills, her most in a contest this season. The senior middle is hitting .369 for the season and now has 122 kills.
 
• Onukwugha blew away her previous career-high with nine kills. The freshman played more than two sets for the first time all year, hitting .208 and adding a block.

• After just nine aces in her first 17 games this year, Khan has nine aces in her last two contests after adding four vs. R-MC. Khan had 18 digs and five assists in the match as well.
 
• Aston had 51 assists, 10 digs, 7 kills, three blocks and two aces, hitting .583 for the match.


 
The Basics 
• Scores: #1 Johns Hopkins-3, Christopher Newport (22-25, 25-19, 25-16, 25-18)
• Records: #1 Johns Hopkins (25-0, 8-0 CC), CNU (17-9, 3-0 CAC)
• Location: Ashland, VA • Crenshaw Gymnasium
• The Short Story: With a four set victory over Christopher Newport, the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays have tied the Division III record for consecutive victories with 60.  

How it Happened 

1st Set
• The Blue Jays fell behind early and couldn't claw all the way back, ultimately dropping the first set to CNU 25-22.  

• Trailing 7-3, Sydney Portale picked up a kill for JHU to cut it to three, but CNU responded with six of the next seven points to take a 13-5 lead. Anna Dean, Macy Burk and Sammy Carroll all had kills for CNU during the run.
 
• A 7-3 run for the Jays cut it to 16-12, getting kills from Danielle Norman and Eleni Panagopoulos and some help from the Captains.
 
• Portale, Anthony and Norman all had kills during a 5-2 run as the Blue Jays cut it to 21-20, but the Captains held off the Blue Jays in the end, getting an ace from Rebecca Frey to clinch a 25-22 win.
 


2nd Set
• CNU started the second set quickly, but Hopkins owned the middle of the set and held off a late rally in the end to tie the match 1-1.  
 
• A couple of kills from Maddie Carter and an ace from Burk put the Captains up 4-1 early. A pair of Norman kills and an extra from Portale pushed Hopkins ahead 6-5.
 
• Leading 9-8, Hopkins scored five straight, getting kills from Norman and Roxy Karrer and a pair of kills from Elayna Williams to take a 14-8 lead.
 
• CNU cut it to 18-14, but Hopkins scored five straight to jump back ahead by nine. Williams and Portale had kills while Evelyn Batista added an ace on the run.
 
• CNU took five of six to whittle it down to 24-19, but Portale finished the set off with a kill for JHU.


3rd Set 
• The Blue Jays dominated the third set, jumping out ahead quickly, 7-3. Norman and Portale added kills while Karrer had an ace to extend the lead to 12-7 before a JHU run broke it open.
 
• Natalie Aston picked up a pair of kills and a block while Williams added a kill and a block during a 5-0 run to push JHU ahead 17-7.
 
• The Captains cut it to six, but Portale, Norman, Aston and Lauren Anthony all had kills in the back stretch of the third set to give JHU a 25-16 set win.
 
4th Set 
• After falling behind early in the fourth, Hopkins used a 9-0 stretch to break it open and avoid going to five sets for the second consecutive game.
 
• Trailing 6-4, Hopkins ripped off nine straight, getting three kills from Portale to lead the way. Panagopoulos added a kill and Batista had an ace during the run as well.
 
• CNU took the next point, but Hopkins took four straight again, making it a 13-1 run and a 17-7 lead overall.
 
• CNU cut it to 19-13, but a block from Aston and Anthony and a kill from Panagopoulos made it 21-13. Sarah Khan ended the match with an ace for a 25-18 win in the fourth set.
 
What It Means
 
• The Blue Jays have improved to 25-0 on the season with a pair of wins in Ashland.
 
• Hopkins has tied the Division III record for consecutive wins with 60. This matches a record set by Central (IA) in 2000. The Blue Jays are now tied for third all-time across all division with 60 straight victories.
 
What's Next
 
• Johns Hopkins will travel to Washington College on Wednesday for a Centennial Conference matchup. The Blue Jays will have a chance to break the Division III record with a win.