The Basics 
• Score: #23 Johns Hopkins – 3 • #8 Juniata – 1 (25-17, 33-35, 25-14, 25-12)
• Records: #23 Johns Hopkins (12-0) • #8 Juniata (6-5)
• Location: Huntingdon, PA• Memorial Gymnasium
• The Short Story: The 23^rd-ranked Johns Hopkins volleyball team remained unbeaten with a stunning four-set victory against eighth-ranked Juniata Friday evening.  The Blue Jays won the third and fourth sets in decisive fashion to claim the victory.

How it Happened

SET ONE
• Down 16-14 after Juniata got a kill from Morgan Edwards, the Blue Jays reeled off four straight points, including the final three off the serve of senior Louisa Kishton, to grab a 20-14 lead and never let the Eagles get closer than five down the stretch to take set one, 25-17.  A block by Hannah Korslund and Eleni Panagopoulos closed out the first-set win for JHU.

•   The Blue Jays had a pair of three-point leads early in the set (5-2, 6-3), but Juniata fought back to grab a 9-8 lead with a 6-2 run that was capped by a Brianne Carmody kill.  A Simone Bliss kill and a Natalie Aston ace gave the Blue Jays a 10-9 lead they would never relinquish. The teams battled evenly until the late surge gave Hopkins the set.

SET TWO
• An epic second set saw the teams battle well into extra points before the Eagles prevailed 35-33.

•  The Eagles jumped out quickly as a Carmody kill gave Juniata an early 9-4 lead.  The Blue Jays slowly closed the deficit and were within one on three occasions before pulling even at 13-13 on a block by Korslund and Panagopoulos.  Three kills, including a pair from Kishton, gave the Blue Jays an 18-14 lead before a quick 4-0 run for the Eagles knotted things at 18.

•  Extra points didn't seem likely when the Blue Jays grabbed a 23-19 lead with a 5-1 run that was fueled by a pair of Bliss kills, but Juniata, which advanced to the NCAA Semifinals last season, fought back to send the match well past 25.

•  In extras, both teams carried a number of one-point leads and the serve, but the set wasn't decided until the Eagles got two straight to put the set away.

SET THREE
• The Blue Jays wasted no time bouncing back from the second-set thriller as they jumped out to a 7-1 lead and never let Juniata get closer than three in cruising to a 25-14 win in the third set.

•  Bliss served up five straight points to turn a 2-1 lead into an early 7-1 advantage.  The Eagles climbed within 9-6, but an Eagle attacking error and a Bliss kill made it 11-6 and the Blue Jays methodically put the set away as they hit .429 with 15 kills against just three errors in grabbing the 11-point third-set victory.

SET FOUR
•  The momentum of the third-set win for the Blue Jays carried into set four, which the Blue Jays took control of early en route to a 25-12 match-clinching win.

•  With the set tied at four, a Lauren Anthony kill jump-started a lightning-quick 6-0 run that turned the deadlock into a 10-4 Blue Jay advantage.  Panagopoulos collected three services aces during the spree for the Blue Jays.

•  Like they did in set three, the Blue Jays never let the Eagles back get within striking distance as they used runs of 4-0 and 6-2 to pull away for good; Juniata was never closer than eight after the Blue Jays reached the 15-point mark and three of the final four JHU points came on kills by Antony, Panagopoulos and Kishton.

Inside the Box Score
• The Blue Jays hit .319 with 59 kills against just 13 errors, while Juniata hit just .121 with 50 kills and 32 errors.  Johns Hopkins hit at least .273 in every set.

•  Four Johns Hopkins players collected at least 11 kills with Panagopoulos (15), Bliss (14), Kishton (12) and Anthony (11) all reaching double figures.  Anthony had just one hitting error and hit .526 on the night.

• Aston collected 39 assists and 22 digs and was in on four of JHU's nine blocks.  Korslund was in on a team-high five blocks with one solo and four assisted.  The nine blocks are a season high for the Blue Jays.

What it Means
• Friday night marked the 10^th all-time meeting between Johns Hopkins and Juniata.  The win is the second for the Blue Jays against the Eagles with JHU having now won two of the last three in the series.

•  Three of JHU's last four wins have come against teams ranked in the top 25 as the Blue Jays knocked off then 23^rd-ranked Clarkston and then 24^th-ranked Ithaca last weekend.

•  This is the second straight season and the third time in school history that the Blue Jays have started the season with at least 12 straight wins.  Hopkins began the 2018 season with 13 straight victories and started the 2012 season with 16 consecutive wins.
Up Next

• The Blue Jays will return to Memorial Gymnasium Saturday for an early-morning tilt with Saint Vincent at 10 a.m. Hopkins will then have a brief break before squaring off with Rochester at 2 p.m.

Be sure to follow the Blue Jays all season long on Twitter (@JHUVB) and on Instagram (@johnshopkinsvolleyball).  

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