GETTYSBURG, PA – The ninth-ranked Johns Hopkins volleyball team hit the road for a Centennial Conference matchup against Gettysburg College Wednesday night, riding an impressive defensive effort to claim the 3-1 (25-11, 22-25, 25-23, 25-17) victory over the Bullets.
 
Simrin Carlsen paced the Blue Jays (12-3, 2-0 Centennial) in kills with 18, extending her streak of matches with double-digit kills to 12, while Chidinma Onukwugha (14), Alice Yu (10) and Roxy Karrer (10) all got into double figures themselves. Also making her presence felt elsewhere on the court was Karrer, who racked up four aces — pushing her career total to 108 and tying her for 18th among Hopkins' all-time ace leaders — as well as a career-best 23 digs. Helena Swaak continued her dominance from the setter position, tallying 51 assists to mark the third time she has reached at least 50 helpers in a match.
 
Gettysburg (13-4, 1-1 Centennial) were held to a season-low hitting percentage of just .083, with Kylie Ulrich being the lone Bullets player to reach double digit kills with 10. Sophie Nasir tallied 15 assists while Chelsea O'Leary registered a team-high 16 digs.
 
A set-opening block from Onukwugha and Swaak set the tone for the Wednesday's first stanza, sparking an immediate 7-0 run to put the Blue Jays firmly in the driver's seat. The lead stood at seven until another 4-0 spurt with kills coming from Pamela Chiakpo, Karrer and Yu putting Hopkins ahead 15-4. The Jays continued to build on their lead until it was 21-10, with a 4-1 run ended with an Onukwugha kill closed the first set 25-11.
 
Hopkins once again leapt out to an early lead in Set 2, going ahead 5-1 after a Chiakpo-Yu denial, but a 4-1 response by Gettysburg chipped into the lead. Hopkins stayed ahead halfway into the set with a 14-10 advantage before the Bullets took over, using a 7-2 run to take a 17-16 lead. Another 4-0 run after the Jays had retaken the lead pushed the Bullets ahead 23-20, with a pair of timely kills after Hopkins had cut the lead back to one giving Gettysburg the second set 25-22.
 
There was hardly anything to separate the sides in a third set that had five lead changes and ten ties. The Jays held the early advantage at 6-3 before an 8-2 run put the Bullets up 11-8. After trading points the set was tied at 14, 15, 16 17, and 18 before Hopkins finally began to pull away. A 3-0 burst put the visitors ahead 21-18, eventually extending the lead to 24-20 before closing the set 25-23 on a kill from Carlsen to go ahead 2-1.
 
Runs from each team made Set 4 another back-and-forth affair before Onukwugha and Carlsen almost single-handedly put the match out of reach. With the score 11-10, the juniors combined for seven of the next nine points to put the Jays ahead 20-10 and all but put the match out of reach. The Bullets used a pair of 3-0 runs to chip away at the deficit, but a service error put Hopkins ahead 24-17 before a Carlsen ace ended the set 25-17 and the match 3-1.
 
The Blue Jays return home for their next match where they will take on Stevenson Friday, October 6, with first serve set for 6 p.m.