BALTIMORE, MD – The top-seeded Johns Hopkins volleyball team collected 57 kills and hit .387 to fuel a sweep of fourth-seeded Gettysburg (25-20, 25-15, 25-21) in the Centennial Conference Semifinals Friday evening in Goldfarb Gymnasium.  The Blue Jays advance to the title match for the eighth consecutive year and improve to 28-2 on the year.  Gettysburg slip to 23-5 with the loss.
 
The Blue Jay grabbed a 25-20 victory in a first set that saw both teams hit above .340.  The Blue Jays led just 9-8 after an Erin Gonzalez kill for the Bullets, but back-to-back Simone Adam kills ignited an 8-2 Hopkins spurt that gave the Jays a 17-10 lead.  Adam collected three kills during the spree for the Blue Jays, who also got a kill and a block from Simrin Carlsen and a spurt-ending ace from Roxy Karrer.
 
The Blue Jays held the lead at seven or better until the Bullets used a late four-point run that Gonzalez jump-started with another kill to pull within 24-20 before an Alice Yu kill capped the first-set victory the Jays.
 
Hopkins moved to the brink of victory with a not-as-close as it looks 25-15 set two victory.  The Blue Jays used a 12-2 run to turn an early 3-3 tie into a 15-5 lead that was never seriously threatened.  Adam notched four kills during the run, which also included three kills from Ivy Swafford and two kills and two aces from Carlsen. 
 
The Bullets never got closer than nine down the stretch in the second set and Adam finished it off in the middle with her fourth kill of the set.  The Jays hit .500 in the set (19-3-32) and the defense buckled down after the hot-hitting first set for the Bullets as Gettysburg hit just .077 (6-4-26).
 
Johns Hopkins appeared to be well on its way to a comfortable third-set victory as the Blue Jays scored 10 of the first 14 points with back-to-back kills from Carlsen and Swafford capping the early surge.
 
The Blue Jays extended the early lead to 15-8 and were up 21-13 after Carlsen and Yu kills and service and attack errors by the Bullets. Still, Gettysburg made one final push and pulled within 22-20 with a 7-1 run that was bookended by Blue Jay attack errors and included a pair of Mary Huegel kills.
 
A Swafford kill from the side halted the Gettysburg run before Adam and Carlsen ended the night with back-to-back kills.
 
Adam led an attack that saw four Blue Jays collect 10 or more kills as she had a match-high 15, while Carlsen (12), Swafford (11) and Jilienne Widener (10) all had at least 10 as well.  Carlsen added nine digs and a pair of aces on the night and Kata Danaher (26) and Helena Swaak (22) combined for 48 assists.  Danaher also had a match-high 14 digs.
 
Gonzalez had a team-high 11 kills and added four digs, while three other players, including Huegel, had five kills on the night. After hitting .346 in the first set, the Bullets were limited to the .077 effort in the second set and a .174 mark in the third.