BALTIMORE, MD – The top-seeded, ninth-ranked Johns Hopkins volleyball team captured its ninth straight Centennial Conference title on Sunday afternoon, defeating Franklin & Marshall in four sets, 3-1 (26-24, 24-26, 26-24, 25-20) inside Goldfarb Gymnasium. With the victory, the Blue Jays secured the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, while senior Simone Adam was named Tournament MVP.
 
Hopkins opened strong, jumping out to a 5-2 lead behind early kills from Adam and Helena Swaak, along with a block by Michela De Marzi and Celine Ebert. A three-point surge capped by consecutive Swaak kills extended the advantage to 9-4, but the Diplomats responded with a four-point run to pull within one at 9-8. The teams traded points down the stretch until another F&M burst gave the visitors a 21-20 edge. Hopkins answered with three straight—two of them Swaak's fifth and sixth kills of the set—to regain the lead. After ties at 23 and 24, Ebert hammered a kill to earn set point, and Adam finished the job to give the Blue Jays a 26-24 opening-set win.
 
F&M struck first in the second frame, scoring the opening three points before Swaak and Adam teamed up for a block to break the seal. Trailing 9-6, Hopkins strung together a seven-point run highlighted by blocks from Alice Yu, Jocelyn Pye and Swaak to go ahead 13-9. The teams traded momentum late until a three-point Diplomats push made it 23-21. De Marzi answered with a block to tie the score at 23-all, but F&M responded with back-to-back points to take the set, 26-24, leveling the match at 1-1.
 
The third set saw the teams locked at 6-6 before F&M claimed three straight points for a 9-6 lead. Hopkins countered with a four-point run, punctuated by a De Marzi kill, to move ahead 13-12. The Diplomats later surged ahead 18-15, but the Blue Jays responded once again—this time with a four-point stretch capped by a Yu–Swaak block to reclaim the lead. Tied at 24, an Ebert kill delivered set point, and a Franklin & Marshall error sealed the 26-24 win and a 2-1 match lead.
 
Hopkins came out firing in the fourth, racing to a 7-1 lead on a trio of kills from Adam and Swaak and a block from Adam and De Marzi. The Diplomats refused to fold, erasing the deficit with a four-point burst to tie the set at 11-11. Later, a De Marzi-Adam block pushed the Jays ahead 17-13, but F&M rallied again, tying the score at 19 after five straight points. From there, Hopkins closed like a champion; a five-point run sealed the frame, with Yu delivering the match-clinching block for the 25-20 win and the program's ninth consecutive Centennial Conference championship.
 
Defensively, Nicole Tuszynski anchored the back row with a team-high 19 digs. De Marzi led a dominant blocking effort with seven stuffs, while Swaak and Yu added five blocks apiece. Pye paced the offense with a team-best 14 kills.
 
The Blue Jays now await Monday's NCAA Tournament selection at 1:00 p.m., when they'll learn if they have been chosen to host an NCAA Regional.

 
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