In an eventful week, the Johns Hopkins Women's Volleyball team was able to recover from a heartbreaking loss to Catholic University to win three of five matches and reach the finals in the Battlefield Classic in Gettysburg, Pa. After finishing the week with a 3-3 record the team raised their overall record to 4-5.
The Jays won the first two games against Catholic University, in the team's first home contest last Wednesday, only to lose the final three and fall to the No. 19 ranked Cardinals.
In the opening game the Blue Jays jumped to an early lead and held on to win with a score of 30 to 24. The next game Catholic gained the upper hand early on, but the Jays recovered and midway through the match and coasted to a 30 to 23 final score to capture the game.
The team's inexperience would prove to be their undoing as they lost the following three games to the Cardinals.
"We're still a young team; as we gain more experience and unity as a team we'll become more comfortable and be able to finish those games." said junior Stephanie Kaliades.
Kaliades led the team with 19 kills. Senior Elisabeth Breese earned 16 kills and sophomore Betsy Baydala tallied 14 to finish second and third on the team in kills. Senior setter Courtney Cromwell garnered 62 assists, nearing her school record of 64 assists. Freshman libero Colby Perkins totalled 32 digs to lead the team.
Over the weekend the volleyball team travelled to Gettysburg to take part in the Battlefield Classic, held at Gettysburg College.
The Jays finished the tournament with a second place finish falling to host Gettysburg in the finals. Overall the Jays finished the tournament with a 3-2 record.
On Friday, the team lost the opening game of the tournament against York College. The Jays won two of the first three games against York, but fell in the final two to lose the contest.
Breese led the team with 16 kills, Kaliades tallied 14 kills and Hajj earned 12 kills. Courtney Cromwell contributed with 45 assists Perkins led the team's defensive effort with 20 digs.
In the second match of the day, the Jays would end the first round with a victory over Richard Stockton. The team swept Stockton in three straight games. The team was led in kills by Breese who tallied 11 while Cromwell led the team in assists.
The next day the tournament began its elimination phase where a team advances after every win. Hopkins won the first two games of the day against Scranton and Mary Washington defeating both teams by scores of 3-1.
Against Mary Washington Kaliades led the team with 15 kills followed by Breese who totalled 14. Courtney Cromwell totalled 48 assists.
Kaliades and freshman Kate O'Callaghan tied for the team lead with 13 kills. O'Callaghan also led the team with 22 digs.
After winning the first two matches in elimination, a tired Hopkins team proceeded to play their third match of the day against tournament host Gettysburg falling in four sets.
"As a team it was important so we could play Gettysburg instead of going home," said Kaliades.
Hopkins won the first game but lost the final three in the defeat. Hajj and Kaliades led the team with 14 kills a piece. Cromwell earned 39 assists and Perkins led the team in digs with 22. Breese and O'Callaghan both tallied 12 kills.
This season several new rules have been adopted by collegiate volleyball that has radically altered the ways in which games are scored and what players are used. In the old system, points could only be earned by the team serving.
Now under the rally score, points can be earned by the receiving team as well. Because earning points is now easier, games are played till one team reaches 30 points instead of 15.
"I think it makes for a faster, more upbeat game," said Kaliades.
Also new is the creation of the libero position. A libero is a purely defensive player who is able to sub in for any player on the court. A libero wears a different uniform than the other team members and is not able to participate in the team's offense.
The use of the libero, a purely defensive position being filled by Perkins this season, has directly affected the Hopkins offense.
"It helped us to specialize in our positions. So now our front row players can concentrate on hitting and not worry about the backrow so much," said junior Samantha Raggi.
"It enables us to hurt someone with our back row," adds Kaliades, "giving us strong passes enabling us to run our attack."
The Lady Jays will resume play Friday in New York City at the New York University Invitational tournament.
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