BALTIMORE, MD – The Johns Hopkins Volleyball program wrapped up an undefeated weekend at the Greg "Gio" Giovanazzi Memorial Tournament on Saturday, defeating UMass Boston 3-1 (25-23, 25-20, 24-26, 25-17) in the opener before sweeping William Paterson 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-22) inside Goldfarb Gymnasium. The Blue Jays improve to 3-0 on the 2026 season.
Honoring former Johns Hopkins head coach Greg "Gio" Giovanazzi, an All-Tournament Team was selected by participating head coaches. Representing the Blue Jays on the squad were
Ivy Swafford and
Nicole Tuszynski, joined by Paige Coulson (UMass Boston), Bella Demers (William Paterson) and Jayden Ulmer (Penn State Altoona).
Game 1: Johns Hopkins 3, UMass Boston 1
The Blue Jays (3-0) opened the day with a quick 7-1 start behind service aces from
Annika Anderson and
Josephine Kinlan. UMass Boston rallied behind Paige Coulson to tie the score at 13-13, eventually building a 20-18 advantage. Trailing 23-20, Hopkins strung together five consecutive points, capped by back-to-back kills from Kinlan, to secure the 25-23 opening-set win.
Hopkins maintained control in the second set, using a kill from Swafford to go up 13-10 and a pair of aces from
Sami Hockers to stretch the margin to 19-12. Though the Beacons (3-1) closed the gap to four, Swafford sealed the 25-20 victory with a powerful swing.
UMass Boston turned the tide in the third, overcoming an early 8-3 deficit with a strong offensive push to take a 17-13 lead. Despite a late Blue Jay surge that briefly put Hopkins ahead 22-20, the Beacons captured the set 26-24.
The Blue Jays quickly rebounded in the fourth, jumping to a 5-1 lead behind three early kills from
Celine Ebert. Up 24-16 late in the frame, Hockers delivered the match-winning kill to wrap up a 25-17 set victory and close out the match.
Game 2: Johns Hopkins 3, William Paterson 0
Hopkins closed out the weekend with a hard-fought sweep against William Paterson (3-2). After falling behind 9-5 early in the first set, the Blue Jays responded with a five-point run sparked by
Emily Overtoom and capped by Swafford. Another five-point burst later in the set, punctuated by an Ebert kill, carried Hopkins to a 25-19 decision.
The Blue Jays opened a 10-5 lead in the second set, and though the Pioneers trimmed the deficit to 14-12, a four-point spurt highlighted by a block from
Elysa Pulliam and Overtoom pushed the margin to 20-15. Kinlan clinched the 25-18 win with an emphatic kill.
The final frame featured several lead changes before an ace by Anderson gave Hopkins separation at 16-10. William Paterson fought back to tie the score at 19 and 22, but the Blue Jays closed out the sweep with consecutive kills from
Jordan Price and Ebert, followed by a block from Price to secure the 25-22 set win.
The Blue Jays travel to Ithaca, New York, on September 11 for the Bomber Invitational, opening tournament play against Babson at 6:30 PM before facing No. 18 Ithaca and No. 20 Carnegie Mellon on September 12.
Gallery: (9-5-2026) Volleyball vs. UMass Boston
