FREDERICKSBURG, VA – The Johns Hopkins volleyball team scored one of the most decisive NCAA Tournament victories in program history Thursday afternoon as the Blue Jays knocked off Hunter, 3-0, in the first round at Mary Washington.  The Blue Jays (22-7) won by scores of 25-15, 25-18 and 25-8 and advanced to the second round of the tournament for the sixth consecutive season.
 
In a match that included just two ties, both of which came in the first set, the Blue Jays hit .313, held the Hawks to a -.061 hitting percentage and collected 13 aces in the victory.
 
The Blue Jays broke a 2-2 tie in the opening set with a 11-4 spurt that gave them a 13-6 lead and Hunter was never closer than three the rest of the way.  The run was fueled by four service aces, including two from Evelyn Batista, and a pair of Alice Yu kills.  The Hawks pulled within 15-12 on back-to-back Blue Jay attacking errors, but Johns Hopkins responded with an 8-1 run that gave them a 23-13 lead and closed it out two points later.
 
Set two saw the Blue Jays score 13 of the first 16 points to take control early and then hold off a late rally by the Hawks to grab the 25-18 set victory.  Hopkins led 4-0 off the early service of freshman Helena Swaak and Batista later served up four straight in the early spurt for the Blue Jays.  The Hawks got as close as 19-15 with three aces and three attacking errors by the Blue Jays, but Hopkins got three straight off the service of senior Annelisa O'Neal to help put the set away.
 
The third set was all Blue Jays as they scored 16 of the first 19 points and never let the Hawks get going in cruising to the 25-8 match-clinching win.  JHU hit .444, collected five of their 13 aces and added four blocks in their match-clinching third-set victory.
 
The Blue Jays got a match-high 10 kills from freshman Simone Adam and seven from sophomore Simrin Carlsen.  Roxy Karrer had five of JHU's 13 aces in the win and Swaak added 21 assists.  In all, 15 different players saw the court for the Blue Jays.
 
Tionna Moss had a team-high six kills for the Hawks, who also got four kills from Mariapaz Lojano and 15 assists from Bethany Tomaneng.
 
Notes:  The .313 hitting percentage for JHU marks the ninth time this season the Blue Jays have hit better than .300, while the Hawks' -.061 percentage is the second-lowest for a Blue Jay opponent this season.  Adam pushed her season kill total to 375, which breaks the JHU single-season record for a a freshman; Jasmine Warmington's record of 371 had stood since 2012.  The Blue Jays are now 13-7 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and have won nine of their last 10 matches in the NCAAs.
 
What's Next
Johns Hopkins will take on Stevens in the second round of the tournament on Friday, November 11 (4:30 pm).  The Blue Jays and Ducks met back on September 2 in the season opener for both teams; Johns Hopkins won that match (3-0) and is 4-1 all-time against Ducks.  Included is a 3-0 win in the 2019 NCAA Regional Championship match at Johns Hopkins.