BALTIMORE, MD – The Johns Hopkins volleyball team took on Middlebury in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Friday night, battling with the Panthers for four sets before claiming the 3-1 (26-24, 21-25, 25-19, 25-21) victory in front of the home crowd. The win advances the Jays to their fourth straight regional final, three of which they have hosted.
 
Two more individual records fell in the win, with both Simrin Carlsen and Helena Swaak writing their names in the history books. Carlsen had potentially her best offensive match of the season, registering a program NCAA record 26 kills on a .396 hitting percentage. The junior's total broke the record of 21 set by Simone Bliss in the 2019 National Championship game and ties the program record for kills in a four-set match in any contest.
 
Swaak, meanwhile, was the facilitator for Carlsen's record-breaking performance, setting a new program NCAA record herself for assists in a match with 53, topping the previous record of 49 set by Natalie Aston in 2017. These are the third and fourth program NCAA records to fall in just two matches, with Chidinma Onukwugha breaking the single-match hitting percentage record along with the team record for hitting percentage in the opening matchup against Lasell. Evelyn Batista nearly joined the group as well, tying the program NCAA record for aces in a match with five, becoming the fifth Hopkins player to reach that mark.
 
Finishing behind Carlsen in kills but playing just a big a part was Onukwugha, who tallied 13 kills, with Simone Adam (10) also finishing in double digits. Onukwugha also made her presence felt on the defensive end, leading the team with four blocks followed by three apiece from Pamela Chiakpo and Alice Yu, while a complete team effort paced by a match-high 21 digs from Grace Reininga set a new program NCAA record and high-water mark for the season for digs at 90.
 
Friday's opening stanza set the tone for what would be a tightly contested match all night after a service error by Middlebury (16-9) tied the score at three. Hopkins (27-4) tried to use that momentum to go ahead, with two Batista aces sparking a 5-1 run to take an 8-4 lead, but a 3-0 response from the Panthers brought things right back to within one. The Jays built up a three-point lead again at 14-11, but this time a 5-0 burst from the visitors put Hopkins in the hot seat down 16-14. Middlebury maintained its lead until it was tied at 17 and a 3-0 run from the Jays put them up 20-17. The Panthers refused to go away, knotting the score once again at 21 and again at 24 after Hopkins had three chances to close the set, before Adam and Carlsen went back-to-back to wrap up a close Set 1, 26-24.
 
The lead in Set 2 was never larger than three for either side, but after the Jays took a 16-13 advantage a 6-0 response gave Middlebury a lead they would not give up, ending the set with kills from Lauren Baxter and Molly Harrison to level things at one. The set was the Panthers' best of the night, as they hit .395 compared to a still-impressive .256 for Hopkins.
 
Friday's third set was where Carlsen took over, as the junior tallied nine kills in the frame alone to put the team on her back en route to the critical Set 3 win. With Batista back at the service line, Middlebury struggled to stay in system, resulting in a 4-0 run that was started and capped with Carlsen kills. The Panthers responded with a 3-0 run to cut the lead back to one, but were unable to tie the score until finally using another 3-0 burst to level things at 19. From there, a Batista ace sandwiched by a block and kill from Onukwugha as well as a trio of Carlsen enders ignited a set-closing 6-0 run to put Hopkins up 2-1.
 
Set 4 saw Middlebury jump out to an early 5-3 lead, growing that advantage to 9-6 before Hopkins began its climb back. The Jays tied things at 11 on Batista's fifth ace, took the lead on an ace from Carlsen at 14-13 and used a pair of 3-0 runs to all but put the game out of reach at 22-16. The Panthers got within three at 24-21, but there to secure her 26^th kill of the night was Carlsen, who sent a rocket into the back row that could not be handled, securing the set and match for the Jays.
 
Next up for Hopkins is the Regional Final Saturday, Nov. 18 where they will take on No. 16 and top-seeded Wesleyan, with first serve set for 5 p.m.