Release courtesy of Johns Hopkins Athletic Communications
Cedar Rapids, IA – For the first time in Johns Hopkins volleyball history, the Blue Jays are National Champions.
On Saturday night inside the U.S. Cellular Center, Hopkins opposed a program no stranger to the big stage. The Emory Eagles were the reigning Division III national champs, and were in the process of their fifth trip to the Final Four since 2010.
It's almost as if no one told the Blue Jays.
In many ways, Saturday night's title match looked hardly different than any other game this season for Hopkins. Sure, the players were different, the uniforms were different, but the methodical precision of the Blue Jay game remained the same.
As she's done so many times this season, junior Natalie Aston opened the night with an ace, and before you knew it, Hopkins had raced out to a 5-0 lead. As great teams do, Emory quickly responded and would scratch their way back to eventually take a 14-13 lead.
Like two heavyweights in a boxing match, the sides went punch-for-punch the remainder of the game until Hopkins grabbed a set-point opportunity at 24-23. A wild rally climaxed with Simone Bliss digging a ball off the hardwood and finding the lone opening along the Eagle backline to give Hopkins the opening set.
The rest of the night was a textbook in execution from head coach Matt Troy's club. Taking advantage of every Emory miscue – and limiting their own – Hopkins prevailed in another back-and-forth second set 25-22.
And it was only fitting that the Blue Jays would save their best for last. Hopkins hit an even .500 in the third game, committing only one error, and cruised their way to the program's first-ever Division III title.
We could spend the next few paragraphs dissecting the team statistics, or the individual performances from this evening, or we can finish it the way senior captain Louisa Kishton and junior Simone Bliss finished off championship night.
Sitting at the podium during the post-game press conference, it appeared that the final question among the media members had concluded.
That is, until Kishton quickly turned and asked for the microphone. Making sure to shout out Lauren Anthony and Morgan Wu because their names hadn't been brought up in the presser to that point only exemplifies the special bond that this team possessed.
That prompted Bliss to grab the mic and recognize Annelisa O'Neal and Rachel DePencier for, in her words, "being ballers, and not getting the recognition they deserve".
There are plenty of words to describe the 2019 Blue Jay volleyball team, but for the sake of time and words, we'll stick to one: Perfect.
Odds and Ends
- Johns Hopkins becomes just the third team in Division III history to be crowned undefeated National Champions (Washington University, 40-0, 1992; Central (IA), 41-0, 1999)
- Simone Bliss was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Championships after tallying a match-high 21 kills in the title match.
- The National Championship was Hopkins' second of the day after the Blue Jay women's cross country team brought home its sixth national title earlier Saturday afternoon.