BALTIMORE, MD – The Johns Hopkins volleyball team returned home for the first time since September 3 and rallied past visiting Susquehanna for a four-set victory (23-25, 25-17, 25-21, 25-20) Tuesday night in Goldfarb Gymnasium. The win snaps a five-match losing streak for the Blue Jays, who improve to 4-5 with the victory; Susquehanna slips to 6-4 with the loss.
The River Hawks rallied from a 17-12 deficit to grab the two-point set-one victory. Three kills from
Rosina Esposito fueled an 8-3 Susquehanna run that knotted the set at 20-20 and back-to-back kills by
Amanda Gore turned a 23-22 Blue Jay lead into set point for the 'Hawks, who grabbed the set on a Blue Jay ball handling error.
After a tight first 19 points of set two, the Blue Jays took control with an 8-1 run that included five
Alice Yu kills to give JHU an 18-11 lead. Hopkins never let Susquehanna get closer than six down the stretch to even the match at one set apiece.
Susquehanna jumped out to an 8-3 lead in set three, but a timeout for the Blue Jays was followed by a 7-2 spurt for JHU that evened the set at 10-10. After the River Hawks retook a two-point lead,
Simone Adam ripped off three straight kills for Johns Hopkins to give the Blue Jays a lead they would never relinquish. Hopkins extended the lead to 18-13, saw the River Hawks pull within one at 21-20, but back-to-back kills from
Simrin Carlsen and Yu fueled a late 4-1 spurt that gave the Blue Jays the set and a 2-1 lead.
The Blue Jays never trailed in the fourth set as a quick 3-0 run to open gave them the lead for good. The River Hawks stayed within striking distance and were down just 13-12 after a Blue Jay attack error, but Susquehanna followed with an error of its own to ignite a five-point Blue Jay run that included two more Yu kills and pushed the Blue Jay lead to 18-12. SU was never closer than four down the stretch and Hopkins closed out the win with Adam's match-high 19
th kill of the night.
Adam had the 19 kills and was one of three Blue Jays in double-figures as Carlsen added 18 and Yu 11; the trio combined for 48 of the Blue Jays' 53 kills in the victory. Carlsen added a match-high 17 digs while
Evelyn Batista (12) and
Roxy Karrer (11) were also keys on the Blue Jay back line.
Lida King had a match-high 30 assists for the Blue Jays.
Esposito was the only River Hawk to collect more than kills as she had a team-high 13; Gore and Ryan Roris added seven kills apiece and
Keira Roach had 25 assists.
Jessica Sack (13 digs) and Esposito (12) led the River Hawks defensively.
What's Next
Johns Hopkins will open Centennial Conference play on Saturday, September 24 when the Blue Jays welcome Swarthmore to Goldfarb Gym (1 pm).
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