Volleyball earns ECAC bid

The Johns Hopkins Volleyball team lost a tough semifinal match against Muhlenberg in the Centennial Conference championship tournament last Saturday. However, the Jays qualified as a selection in the ECAC Division III South Volleyball Championships for the third straight year.

The semifinal against Muhlenberg was well-played by both sides, but Muhlenberg prevailed in each game, winning in three straight games to advance to the finals.

Gettysburg won the conference by defeating Muhlenberg, 3-1.

Freshman outside hitter/defensive specialist Cat Albright said of the match, "We played well, but I don't think we played our best."

Senior outside hitter Emily Miller had a team-high 13 kills, with junior middle Liz Breese following with nine. Freshman setter Betsy Baydala had a team-high 18 digs, assisted by junior setter Courtney Cromwell and Albright, who had 16 and 12 digs, respectively.

Albright also set a career-high with five kills, as she stepped up from her usual defensive spot to play outside hitter.

Despite not winning, the team remains very proud of their successes this season.

"I think that just getting there [to the playoffs] was an accomplishment in itself for our team, especially since we are so young," Albright said, "Making the playoffs is almost as big of an accomplishment as winning the tournament is to us, so I'm not too disappointed with the loss."

The season is not over for the Jays, the team found out Sunday that they qualified for the ECAC Championships for the third straight year. The Blue Jays are the third seed in the tournament, with Franklin & Marshall representing the second seed.

The two aforementioned teams are the only two representatives from the Centennial Conference in this year's South Volleyball Championships. The tournament will be played at Moravian on Nov. 9 and 10.

In order to advance to the finals, the Jays must defeat Grove City, the sixth seed, and then beat Franklin & Marshall, who earned a bye. The Jays have advanced to the finals in each of the last two years, so expectations are high.

Hopkins has not seen almost any of the teams in this year's tournament, so it remains to be seen how the team will fare.

Despite this, Albright is confident about her team, stating, "I don't know anything about the other teams besides Franklin & Marshall, but we will do our best to win."

Miller and Baydala will make a run at the record books this weekend, as Miller needs seven kills to become the second player ever at Hopkins to record 400 kills and 400 digs in a season, while Baydala needs one ace to set a new school single-season record.