BALTIMORE, MD – The sixth-ranked Johns Hopkins volleyball team saw its season come to a close in the Sweet 16 on Saturday afternoon, falling to No. 5 La Verne in a five-set thriller, 2-3 (25-17, 25-21, 21-25, 25-27, 13-15), inside an energetic Goldfarb Gymnasium. The Blue Jays finish their 2025 campaign at 27-5.
 
Following the match, the NCAA Regional All-Tournament Team was announced. Johns Hopkins was represented by Helena Swaak and Simone Adam, while La Verne's Mya Ray earned Tournament MVP honors alongside teammates Keilani Mumolo and Lauren Gott. William Smith's Malya Sayre and St. John Fisher's Kalyna Dannenberg rounded out the honorees.
 
In a top-10 showdown where every rally mattered, Hopkins stormed out to a 5-0 start behind a Michela De Marzi/Adam stuff block and a spectacular defensive dig from Charlotte Voss that lit up the gym. La Verne briefly threatened to pull even at 9-9, but a seven-point Hopkins surge—capped by a Jocelyn Pye kill—reestablished control at 16-8. Down the stretch, an Annika Anderson service ace set up set point, and a La Verne miscue sealed the opener for the Jays, 25-17.
 
After dropping the first two points of the second set, a Swaak kill jump-started a four-point run to give Hopkins a 4-2 lead. La Verne responded with a push to go ahead 12-8, but Hopkins countered immediately with five straight points, highlighted by an Adam/Alice Yu block at the net, to reclaim the lead for good. With set point at 24-20, Adam hammered home the frame-clinching kill, sending Hopkins into the third set up 2-0 after a 25-21 win.
 
La Verne flipped the momentum in the third, using an early three-point spurt to lead 4-2. Hopkins quickly leveled the frame at 5-5 with kills from Pye and Celine Ebert, but the Leopards strung together another run to go up 12-10. The teams traded punches until La Verne's offensive firepower—led by Ray—pushed them ahead 23-20. A dump and a block from the Leopards closed out the set, 25-21, to avoid the sweep.
 
Hopkins again jumped out early, this time 5-2, behind a barrage of kills from Adam, Ebert and De Marzi. Another three-point burst stretched the advantage to 8-3. La Verne steadily chipped away and eventually cut the lead to 15-14. Hopkins answered behind Adam—who erupted for her 14 kill of the match—and timely swings from Ebert and Swaak to build a 20-16 cushion. But La Verne rallied with a four-point run to earn set point at 24-23. The Jays fought off one opportunity, but consecutive La Verne kills capped a 27-25 set, evening the match at 2-2.
 
Adam opened the decisive fifth set with a kill, but a three-point La Verne run put the visitors ahead 5-2. Hopkins clawed back repeatedly, pulling within one at 6-7 and later at 12-13, but the Leopards' size and late-set execution proved too much. A final kill completed the reverse sweep, as La Verne took the set 15-13 to advance to the Elite Eight.
 
With the loss, Johns Hopkins closes the book on an outstanding season under first-year head coach Bayleigh Braswell, highlighted by a 27-5 record, a top-10 national ranking, and another deep NCAA Tournament run.

 
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