The Basics 
• Score: #1 Johns Hopkins – 3 • Marymount – 0 (25-13, 25-22, 25-20)
• Records: #1 Johns Hopkins (7-0) • Marymount (4-5)
• Location: Baltimore, MD • Goldfarb Gymnasium
• The Short Story: In their first-ever regular season match ranked as the number one team the country, the Blue Jays cruised to a straight-set win Wednesday night over Marymount to move to 7-0 on the year and extend their winning streak to 42 straight.

How it Happened

SET ONE
• Simone Bliss set the tone early for the Blue Jays, scoring a pair of aces in her first service rotation. Sydney Portale followed with a pair of kills of her own and before you had time to settle in, the Jays had already raced out to an 8-2 lead.
• Leading 14-8, Bliss stepped to serve once again. She started her rotation with a kill from the back line and followed with her third ace of the opening frame. It was the first time in Bliss' career that she scored three aces in the same set. Various miscues from the Saints, including four service errors, helped propel Hopkins to an easy 25-13 opening set victory.

SET TWO
• Marymount, like many of the Blue Jay opponents to this point in the season, showed that they weren't going to roll over for the defending champs in the second set. After Bliss picked the fourth of match-high four aces to give Hopkins a 4-3 lead, the Saints responded with the next four points to open up a 7-4 lead.
• Hopkins would respond with a 5-0 run of its own, sparked by kills from Eleni Panagopoulos and Portale. Sophomore Danielle Norman, who saw significant playing time for the second straight match, joined the party with consecutive kills of her own from the left side to help Hopkins retake a 10-9 lead.
• A Natalie Aston kill ignited another 5-0 run to open up a 15-10 Blue Jay lead. Marymount would fight its way back, but could never get within less than three of the Jays, who took set two 25-22.

SET THREE
• With a commanding 2-0 lead, head coach Matt Troy was able to empty the bench in the third, giving some new faces some much-earned court time. Elizabeth Hsieh, Pamela Chiakpo, Lida King and Eloise Estrada each saw their first action of their young careers, while junior Annelisa O'Neal also saw the floor for the first time in 2021 during the third set.
• It was Chiakpo, in particular, that brought the Blue Jay crowd (and bench) to its feet early with a pair of kills to open up the third. A 9-0 Hopkins run with Aston at the service line opened up an 18-8 lead for the Jays, but Marymount was ultimately able to cut that deficit to 20-19.
• Entering at the setter spot, King quickly made her presence felt, tallying a pair of kills to steady the ship, and finished off the night by feeding Brooklyn Pater in the middle for the match-clinching kill.

OTHER NOTES
• Bliss and Elayna Williams paced the Blue Jays with seven kills each on the night. For Bliss, her streak of 14 consecutive matches with double-digit kills comes to an end after not appearing in the third set.
• A season-high 12 Blue Jays recorded kills on the night, including a trio of Hopkins' newcomers to tally their first career points (Estrada, Chiakpo, and King)
• Hopkins eclipsed the .300 hitting percentage mark for the fourth time in seven matches, finishing the night at a .346 clip.
• Matt Troy is now one win shy of number 250 for his career.
 
Up Next
•  Hopkins now turns it attention to hosting the JHU Invitational, which is set to begin on Friday. The Blue Jays host Susquehanna at 8 p.m. Friday, before playing host to #4 Colorado College and York on Saturday.

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