SWARTHMORE, PA – The Johns Hopkins volleyball team continued its four-game road trip with a Centennial Conference matchup against Swarthmore Saturday afternoon. In a battle between the two remaining undefeated teams in conference play, it was the Blue Jays bouncing back after dropping the opening set en route to a 3-1 (21-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-20) victory.
The win extends Hopkins' streak to 15, moves the Blue Jays to 25-2 and 8-0 in the Centennial and secures them at least one home match in the upcoming Centennial Conference Tournament, while the loss drops the Garnet to 15-8 with a 7-1 mark in conference play.
The Blue Jays were led offensively by
Jilienne Widener and
Simrin Carlsen, with the duo sharing the team-lead in kills at 16 apiece. The pair was joined in double figures by
Simone Adam (11) and
Ivy Swafford (11), while
Kate Danaher (25) and
Helena Swaak (21) both eclipsed the 20-assist mark in an attack-driven contest. On the other end it was Carlsen racking up a team-high 16 digs while Widener added four blocks for the third time in four matches.
Hopkins used a trio of kills from Widener and Carlsen to jump out to a 4-1 lead early in Set 1, building its advantage to at big as seven at 12-5 following a ball handling error before Swarthmore began its climb back. In a set in which they hit .536, the Garnet turned a 14-8 deficit into a 21-17 using a 13-3 run that featured seven kills to take their first lead of the match. The Blue Jays got as close as two at 22-20 following a Carlsen finisher, but it would be the Garnet taking the first set 25-21, marking just the fifth time all season Hopkins dropped the game's opening frame.
The Blue Jays shored up their defense in the second set, holding Swarthmore to a hitting percentage of 0.0 while hitting .242 themselves. What began as a back-and-forth set quickly shifted to the hosts favor following a 5-0 run that put the Garnet up 13-6. A 6-2 run by Hopkins that featured a pair of Widener rejections (one solo and one assist with
Brooklyn Pater) cut the lead to three at 15-12 before the sides traded blows until the score read 20-16. With the Garnet still holding a slight advantage at 22-20, a Widener kill ignited a 5-1 run that was capped off by an Adam ender to take Set 2 in comeback fashion, 25-23.
Chidinma Onukwugha,
Alice Yu and Adam all registered kills to put the Blue Jays in front 5-1 early in Set 3 en route to the first of two 25-20 wins. Swarthmore would respond with a 4-1 run to cut the Hopkins advantage to one before eventually taking the lead at 13-12. The Blue Jays looked to Widener once again to knot things at 13, tying the score again at 14 before a trio of Garnet attack errors and pair of service aces from Swaak — the junior finished the match with a season-best three — were the start of an 8-1 run that gave the Blue Jays their largest lead at 22-15. Swarthmore got as close as two on two occasions before Carlsen set Hopkins up with set point, with an attacking error closing out Set 3.
Saturday's final set saw the Blue Jays hold a 4-3 advantage before the hosts used three Isabel Adams kills as part of a 7-0 run that put them in front 10-4. Swafford turned it on from there, tallying three of the Garnet's next four kills before a 7-1 run later in the set gave Hopkins its first lead since it was 4-3 at 16-15. The Blue Jays won the race to 20 following a service error before a 5-1 run that featured three kills from Carlsen, one more from Swafford — the duo combined for nine of Hopkins' 15 kills in the frame — and a Swarthmore attacking error wrapped up the set, 25-20 and match, 3-1.
Hopkins is back in action Wednesday, Nov. 6 when they take on Dickinson, with first serve for the Centennial Conference bout scheduled for 7 p.m.
