Release courtesy of Johns Hopkins Athletic Communications
BALTIMORE, MD – The Johns Hopkins volleyball team locked in after losing the first set to defeat Franklin & Marshall 3-1 for their conference record sixth consecutive Centennial Conference title. After dropping the opening set 26-24, the Blue Jays won 25-14, 25-15 and 25-21 in running sets to knock off the Diplomats. The victory sends Johns Hopkins to the NCAA tournament for the eighth time in program history.
In set one, the Blue Jays found themselves in a 21-all tie after a kill by freshman Simone Adam. Johns Hopkins were able to get to a set-point up 24-23, but F&M grabbed the last three points of the set, spurred by kills from Jada West and Gianna Mangiamele, to capture the first set 26-24. Mangiamele had a big day for the Diplomats finishing with 18 kills.
Set two was dominated by the Blue Jays the entire way and Johns Hopkins ran away with a 25-14 win to get the match back to even at 1-1. Hopkins played sound defense, holding F&M to just a .074 hitting percentage, and sophomore Simrin Carlsen propelled the Blue Jays attack with six kills, including the final two of the set to even the match back up. Much like the second set, Hopkins shined defensively again, and the Diplomats could only muster eight kills to seven errors for .034 hitting percentage in the third set. The Blue Jays also thrived in service, adding four of the 13 they had thorough out the match in the set to help them coast to another victory 25-15.
In the fourth set, Hopkins held a slight 17-14 lead after the Diplomats went on a 5-0 run to pull within striking distance of the Blue Jays. Hopkins responded by taking five of the next six points aided by kills from Carlsen, Pam Chiakpo and Alice Yu. The Blue Jays stormed out to a 22-16 lead, and they would not look back as Simone Adam finished the match off with a kill to secure the Centennial Conference Title for the Blue Jays in a 3-1 victory over F&M.
Adam (12 kills), Carlsen (12) and Chiakpo (11) combined for 35 kills to lead the way offensively for the Blue Jays, who were led defensively by Carlsen (15), Helena Swaak (14) and Evelyn Batista (13) as they combined for 42 digs in the victory. Chiakpo was named CC Tournament Most Valuable Player as she averaged 11 kills in the two matches and had several key blocks as well throughout the weekend.
F&M were led by Mangiamele with 18 kills and led defensively by Liah Perez with 15 digs and Meredith Mangum who added 13 digs. The Diplomats hit just .137 during the match.
Notes: The Blue Jays have now beaten F&M three times in the conference championship game. The Blue Jays are now 13-3 when playing inside Goldfarb Gym in the conference tournament. The Blue Jays are heading to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time under head coach Matt Troy.