Box Score The Basics 
• Score: #9 Johns Hopkins – 3 • Stevenson – 1 (25-23, 22-25, 25-16, 25-13)
• Records: #9 Johns Hopkins (21-0, 5-0 Centennial) • Stevenson – (23-1, 5-0 MAC Commonwealth)
• Location: Owings Mills, MD • Owings Mills Gymnasium
• The Short Story: The ninth-ranked Blue Jay volleyball team defeated Stevenson for the third consecutive time as two of the nation's three remaining unbeaten teams squared off Thursday night in front of a raucous crowd at Owings Mills Gymnasium.  The Blue Jays claimed the 3-1 win by winning the third and fourth sets after the teams split highly-competitive first and second sets.

How it Happened

SET ONE
• The Blue Jays took an epic first set 25-23 that saw the teams battle to 11 ties, including a final one at 22-22 before JHU scored three of the final four points to claim the opening set.
•  Facing a 14-13 deficit after the teams had battled to 10 ties to that point, the Blue Jays used a 6-1 run to grab a 19-15 lead.  An ace from Eleni Panagopoulos and kills from Simone Bliss and Natalie Aston fueled the quick spree.
•  Out of a timeout, the Mustangs made their inevitable run and eventually pulled even by scoring seven of the next 10 points to deadlock things at 22.
•  A Stevenson service error, a Panagopoulos kill and an attack error for the Mustangs closed things out and gave the Blue Jays the 1-0 lead.

SET TWO
• The Blue Jays led early and had a three-point advantage at 9-6 after a Bliss kill, but a 5-0 run for the Mustangs gave Stevenson a lead it would not relinquish in grabbing the second set 25-22.
•  Back-to-back service aces from Caroline Dangel polished off the five-point run for Stevenson, which eventually led by as many as five at 18-13 after Dangel picked up three kills in a row for the Mustangs.
•  The Blue Jays were within two at 20-18 and 23-21, but the Mustangs held on for the three-point set victory.  

SET THREE
• Not quite as much drama in set three as the Blue Jays jump out to a 9-4 lead and never let the Mustangs get closer than three in taking the pivotal third set 25-16.
•  Panagopoulos collected a team-high five, third-set kills and the Blue Jays had five service aces, including two from senior Louisa Kishton, to maintain control throughout.
•  JHU held the Mustangs to just eight kills, which were offset by eight Stevenson attacking errors for a .000 hitting percentage in the set for SU.

SET FOUR
• The large crowd was not treated to any drama in the fourth and what proved to be final set as the Blue Jays jumped out to a 6-0 lead and never let the Mustangs get closer than four in cruising to the 25-13 fourth-set victory.
•  A pair of early kills by Kishton and back-to-back kills from Panagopoulos and Lauren Anthony helped build the early six-point lead for the Blue Jays.
•  Stevenson fought back and was within 8-4 after a Blue Jay ball-handling error, but another 6-0 run for the Blue Jays that included a pair of Kishton aces and two kills from Bliss gave Hopkins a 14-4 lead that was never seriously threatened down the stretch.
•  The 20th and final kill of the night for Bliss ended the match for the Blue Jays, who led by at least 10 for all but one point after grabbing the 14-4 lead.

Inside the Box Score
• Bliss had 20 kills and 12 digs, while Kishton (14 kills, 15 digs) and Panagopoulos (10 kills, 15digs) also reached double figures in kills.
• Aston had 42 assists on the 52 Blue Jay kills on the night and Kishton added a match-high five service aces.
•  Hannah Korslund collected five block assists as the Blue Jays had nine total blocks in the victory.
•  Stevenson got 11 kills and 12 digs from Katie Leftridge and three other players had at least five kills on the night for the Mustangs, but SU hit just .088 in suffering its first loss of the season.

What it Means
• Thursday marked the 12th time since 2011 that the two local programs have met. Hopkins has now won three in a row against Mustangs after Stevenson had won eight of the prior 9 meetings. The Blue Jays now hold the overall lead in the series 11-8.
• With the win, JHU and Tufts (17-0) now stand as the only two remaining undefeated teams in the country.


Up Next
• Hopkins returns to Goldfarb Gym on Saturday looking to extend its 24-match home winning streak. The Blue Jays kick things off with a critical Centennial Conference match against Swarthmore at noon, before taking on 25^th-ranked Susquehanna at 4 p.m.
Be sure to follow the Blue Jays all season long on Twitter (@JHUVB) and on Instagram (@johnshopkinsvolleyball).  


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