The Basics 
• Scores: #1 Johns Hopkins-3, Carbrini-0 (25-19, 25-12, 25-16)
• Records: #1 Johns Hopkins (30-0), Cabrini (14-18)
• Location: Baltimore, MD • Goldfarb Gymnasium
• The Short Story: The top-ranked and unbeaten Johns Hopkins volleyball team opened play in the 2021 NCAA Tournament with a sweep of Cabrini in Goldfarb Gymnasium Friday evening.

How it Happened
Set One
• The Blue Jays scored the first three points of the set, pushed the lead to five at 10-5 and never let the Cavaliers get closer than four the rest of the set in opening with a 25-19 set-one win.

• Johns Hopkins led by as many as nine at 18-9 and 19-10 before the Cavaliers rallied to within five on four occasions down the stretch before a Sydney Portale kill ended the opening set.

• The Blue Jays hit a remarkable .552 in the opening set with Simone Bliss (6 kills) and Eleni Panagopolous (5) accounting for 11 of JHU's 19 first-set kills.

Set Two
• After the Cavaliers hung around in set one before falling by six, the Blue Jays made quick work of the second set as they used a 9-1 run to turn an early 2-1 deficit into a 10-3 lead and never looked back.  Portale collected four kills during the spree for the Blue Jays, who would claim set two 25-12.

• The 10-3 lead swelled to 17-4 behind the hot hitting of Portale and Elayna Williams before the Cavaliers slowed the run by splitting the final 16 points of the set, but it was kills by Portale and Williams that ended things for the Blue Jays.

• The Blue Jays hit .500 in the set with Williams going a perfect 7-for-7 and Portale collecting seven kills on 11 swings.

Set Three
• The third set was more like the first than the second as the Blue Jays never trailed and gradually pulled away for the 25-16 win.

• Up just 12-8 after an attack error by Williams, it was a Williams kill that ignited an 8-3 spurt that created separation and pushed the lead to 20-11.  Three of the eight points came on Blue Jay service aces, including back-to-back Lauren Anthony aces that made it 19-11 before a Panagopolous kill ended the spree.

• Cabrini trimmed the deficit to seven at 21-14 on a service ace by Hannah Dalton, but the Blue Jays would sandwich kills by Pamela Chiakpo and Anthony around a Blue Jay service error to close things out. 

What it Means
• Johns Hopkins improves to 30-0 on the year and extends its NCAA Division III record for consecutive wins to 65.

• The Blue Jays move into the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth consecutive time.

Inside the Box Score
• The Blue Jays hit .456 for the match with Panagopolous (9 kills / .667), Williams (9 kills / .571) and Portale (11 kills / .562) leading the way.

• Senior Natalie Aston picked up 43 assists on 50 Blue Jay kills in the win and she added nine digs.

• After Cabrini hit .344 in the opening set, the Blue Jays stepped up their defense and held the Cavaliers to hitting percentages of .061 and -.036 in the final two sets.

Up Next
• Johns Hopkins will play Springfield in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, November 13 at 5 pm in Goldfarb Gymnasium.
 

- 30 -