LANCASTER, PA – The Johns Hopkins volleyball team surged late in each set to fuel a 3-0 victory at Franklin & Marshall Wednesday evening.  The Blue Jays won by scores of 25-20, 25-18 and 25-23 to improve to 15-7 overall and 9-0 in the Centennial Conference.  The victory secures the top seed in the upcoming Centennial Conference Tournament for the Blue Jays, who are bidding for their sixth straight Centennial title.
 
In set one, the Blue Jays found themselves in a 16-all tie after a ball-handling error, but back-to-back Alice Yu kills ignited a 9-4 set-ending run that gave Hopkins the set-one victory.  Yu would add the set-clincher and Simrin Carlsen added two kills of her own during the 9-4 spree that gave the Blue Jays a 1-0 lead.
 
Set two followed a nearly identical script as F&M led 16-15 before the Blue Jays scored 10 of the last 12 points to take the 25-18 set-two victory. A block from Yu and Simone Adam provided the spark this time and that was followed by an F&M attack error, ball handling and a block from Yu and Brooklyn Pater to give JHU a 19-16 lead.  F&M got a point back on a Blue Jay attacking error, but Carlsen added back-to-back kills to make it 21-17 and later added another to bring JHU to set point; a service ace from Roxy Karrer locked up the set for the Blue Jays.
 
The Diplomats had a golden opportunity to grab the third set as they led 17-15 and held serve with a 22-20 lead, but the Blue Jays again had the answer down the stretch as they scored five of the last six points to close out the sweep.  Adam and Yu sandwiched kills around an attack error for the Diplomats to give the Blue Jays a 23-22 lead before Adam and Sydney Levins traded kills to make it 24-22.  Karrer than closed out the sweep as she sent one down the line to seal the win.
 
Adam (13 kills), Yu (12) and Carlsen (12) combined for 37 kills to lead the way offensively for the Blue Jays, who were led defensively by Evelyn Batista (17 digs) and Carlsen (14) as they combined for 31 of Hopkins' 56 digs in the victory.  Helena Swaak, the reigning Centennial Conference Player of the Week, rang up 35 assists – just one shy of career high and her second straight match with 35 or more.
 
F&M got a team-high 11 kills from Levins and nine from Gianna Mangiamele, but the Diplomats got just 15 other kills and the Blue Jay defense limited them to a .154 hitting percentage.
 
Notes:  The Blue Jays have won a season-high six straight matches.  As the top seed in the upcoming Centennial Tournament, Johns Hopkins will host the winner of the quarterfinal match between the number four and number five seeds in the semifinals; that semifinal match will take place on Friday, November 4 (7 pm).
 
What's Next
Johns Hopkins will step out of conference play on Saturday, October 22 when the Blue Jays travel to Salisbury to take on the Sea Gulls (2 pm).