ST. LOUIS, MO – The Johns Hopkins volleyball team was on the road once again to compete in the East West Classic Friday afternoon, besting fifth-ranked Trinity (TX), 3-1 (25-14, 25-19, 21-25, 25-19) before overpowering Cal Lutheran, 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-10) to complete the Day 1 sweep. The Blue Jays' win over Trinity marks the second consecutive year in which they have beaten a top five team in the opening two weekends of the season, having topped No. 2 Claremont-Mudd Scripps during the second week of play in 2023.
Game 1: Johns Hopkins 3, Trinity (TX) 1
Hopkins (4-1) used a complete team effort to take Game 1 from the fifth-ranked Tigers (3-2).
Simone Adam led the way offensively with a match-high 13 kills, joined in double figures by
Jilienne Widener (10) while
Kate Danaher and
Helena Swaak registered 21 and 20 assists respectively.
Evelyn Batista paced the Blue Jays with 17 digs —
Simrin Carlsen also eclipsed double figures with a season-high 15 — and three aces, while
Brooklyn Pater had a career day at the net, rejecting eight attacks (1 solo, 7 assists).
Hopkins' block was on full display in Friday's opening set against the Tigers, racking up six of its season-best 12 rejections to hold Trinity to a hitting percentage of -.129 while the Blue Jays hit at a .286 clip. Hopkins took control early in the frame, turning a pair of Tigers errors into a 7-1 run that was capped off by back-to back blocks by Pater and
Alice Yu. A 5-1 response from Trinity forced a
Matt Troy timeout with the Blue Jays still in front 8-6, but another Pater-Yu block ignited a 5-1 run of their own to push the advantage back to six at 13-7.
The Tigers used a trio of kills to cut into the lead once again, but with the score reading 14-10 it was yet another Hopkins rejection — this time off the hands of
Pamela Chiakpo and Widener — kickstarting a 6-0 run that doubled up Trinity and all but put the set out of reach. With the frame still in hand at 21-13, Carlsen recorded her third kill of the stanza to start a 4-1 run to close Set 1 25-14.
Friday's second set began just as the first did, with a pair of Blue Jay blocks and kills from Chiakpo, Pater and Widener putting Hopkins in front 5-1. As they did in the opening set, however, the Tigers had a response, leveling things at six before Hopkins turned a service error into another 7-1 run that built the lead to its largest of the set at 13-7. Kills from Widener, Pater and Yu kept the Blue Jays in front 19-16 before Adam took over to help close things out. The junior — who had already tallied two kills in the frame — rattled off the next five points for the Blue Jays to put them in front 24-19 and set up Widener to record her fifth kill of the set to secure the 25-19 win.
The script was flipped in Set 3, with the Tigers tallying five blocks to hold the Blue Jays to a team-low hitting percentage of .129 in their lone dropped set of the afternoon before Hopkins settled back in for the match's fourth and final set.
In a frame that saw both programs hit team-high percentages — .343 for Trinity and a match-best .481 for Hopkins — it was
Ivy Swafford and Adam combining for eight of the Blue Jays' 14 kills en route to a 25-19 victory. The set was as back-and-forth as it had been all day, with neither side able to pull ahead by more than two points until the score read 13-11 in favor of the Tigers. From there, a service error turned into four straight kills from Swafford and Adam to give Hopkins back the lead. A pair of Swafford kills — her fourth and fifth of the set — as well as a Chiakpo rejection gave the Blue Jays their largest lead of the frame at 22-16 before the sides traded points with a Chiakpo kill closing out the set and match.
Game 2: Johns Hopkins 3, Cal Lutheran 0
Friday's second match a hot Blue Jays group stay hot in a sweep of Cal Lutheran (2-1). Carlsen paced Hopkins in kills for the first time on the year with a season-high 14, with Adam adding 11. Danaher led the way in helpers once again while defensively it was
Roxy Karrer tallying 15 digs with Pater once again taking charge at the net with a match-high six blocks to bring her total on the day up to 14. Karrer was also instrumental behind the service line, racking up four aces in the win.
The opening set was back-and-forth to start with the score at 4-4 before a Pater kill began a 12-3 run that featured kills from five different players as well as a block by Swafford and Pater to jump in front 16-7. The Regals clawed their way back into the frame, getting as close as three after a Cal Lutheran kill made it 20-17, but a pair of Swafford kills and aces from both Karrer and Chiakpo closed Set 1 25-18.
Set 2 was more tightly contested, with the Regals holding Hopkins to a team-low hitting percentage of .209 while tallying a team-best 12 kills of their own. The Blue Jays' first three points all came via the block — each of which involved Pater — but Hopkins still found itself down 5-3 early. Consecutive Adam kills leveled things at five before a 4-0 run later in the set gave the Blue Jays their first lead at 11-9. A trio of 2-1 bursts with kills coming from Pater and Adam saw Hopkins balloon its lead to 20-14 with a Cal Lutheran response getting the Regals as close as two before a Swafford kill ended the frame 25-22.
The final set of Day 1 was all Hopkins, who jumped out to a 6-2 lead and never looked back. A quick 4-0 that featured kills from Carlsen — her third of five in the frame —, Swafford and Adam built the lead to six at 10-4 before an attack error by Cal Lutheran made the score 12-7. From there began a set and match-closing 13-3 run to take the frame 25-10 and the match in sweeping fashion.
The Blue Jays are back in action Saturday, Sept. 7 to take on sixth-ranked Emory in their final match of the East West Classic. First serve is set for 10:30 am CT.
