BALTIMORE, MD – The third-ranked and top-seeded Johns Hopkins women's volleyball team hosted second-seeded Ithaca in the NCAA Tournament Regional Championship Saturday afternoon, sweeping the Bombers, 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-22) to punch their ticket to the program's third consecutive NCAA Quarterfinal. The Blue Jays'
Jilienne Widener was named the Baltimore Region's Most Outstanding Player after averaging 2.38 kills per set on a .400 clip to pair with 1.13 blocks per set in a trio of sweeps.
It was Widener getting things started in Saturday's Regional Championship, registering her first of eight kills on the night to start a 4-1, match-opening run that was capped off by a Widener-
Alice Yu block. Ithaca (24-7) responded with a 5-2 burst to take its first lead of the match at 7-6 before a back-and-forth affair ensued until the score read 17-17. From there,
Simone Adam struck for consecutive kills as part of a 6-1 run to catapult Hopkins (32-2) up 23-18. The Bombers got as close as three following a kill by Gabriela Gonzalez-Abreu, but it was Adam and Yu striking back to close out Set 1, 25-20.
Set 2 saw Ithaca register more kills (16) than Hopkins (14), but it was the Blue Jays hitting a more efficient .289 — the Bombers were held to .209 — en route to a crucial 25-23 win. A
Kate Danaher kill and Ithaca error put Hopkins in front 7-4 early before the Bombers bounced back with a 5-0 run that featured a trio of Naomi Clauhs kills to leap in front 9-7. The advantage hovered between one and three points through the midway point of the set before a solo block from Adam kickstarted a 3-0 run that knotted things at 19.
The Bombers turned to Gonzalez-Abreu who rattled off consecutive kills to put the visitors back in front 22-20, but a service error put the ball back in Hopkins' hands, who got kills from
Simrin Carlsen and Widener as well as a Widener-
Brooklyn Pater stuff to secure two set points at 24-22. A questionable blocking error call on Pater put Ithaca back within one, but it was the senior ending things on the next point with a hard swing down the pipe off a Danaher feed to complete the come-from-behind, 25-23 win.
Saturday's final set told much of the same story, with the Bombers holding an early lead before a mid-set run by the hosts flipped the script in a 25-22, match clinching win. After falling behind 11-6 following their seventh error of the set, it was Pater serving as the catalyst for a 6-0 response to give Hopkins its first lead of the stanza. The senior combined with
Ivy Swafford for a block to start the run, tacking on her sixth and seventh kills of the night before capping it off with another rejection — this time alongside Adam.
Consecutive Yu kills won the Blue Jays the race to 20 at 20-17, with a late 3-0 run finished off by an Adam kill setting Hopkins up with four match points. Ithaca made one final push, rattling off the next two points, but it was Adam closing out the set and match with her 12
th kill of the night to secure the program's fourth Regional Championship in the last five years and a spot in the NCAA Quarterfinals.
Adam — who was also named to the All-Tournament Team after averaging 3.11 kills with a .319 hitting percentage — tallied a match-best 12 kills, with Carlsen (9) and Widener (8) coming in just behind thanks in large part to Danaher's 26 assists — the graduate student's second-most in a three-set match this season. Defensively it was Carlsen totaling 20 digs and Pater leading another impressive outing from the Blue Jays' block with a match-high five rejections.
Next up for the Blue Jays is a trip to the NCAA Quarterfinals where the remaining eight teams will be reseeded before facing off beginning Wednesday, Dec. 4.
