This past weekend, the Hopkins women's volleyball team traveled to New Paltz, N.Y. for the New Paltz Tournament. The Lady Blue Jays had a great weekend on the court and were able to finish second overall in the tournament. They shut out Mount Saint Mary, 3-0, and also shut out Rutgers-Newark by the same score.
"The team was only tested in the first match and it was a match that the opponents played well in. As far as the tournament, it was a great chance to see everyone play and see where they stack up on the depth chart. Aside from the first match, the team played as a unit no matter who was in and did a really nice job," Coach Giovanazzi said.
Senior Alex Zenoff led Hopkins with a total of nine kills. Senior Allison Cappelaere was not far behind, and added seven kills to her name, compiling a total of 33 for the weekend.
Freshman Becky Paynter had another solid performance and led the Jays' assists total with 25, totaling 91 for the weekend. Both Cappelaere and Paynter were named to the New Paltz Tournament All-Tournament team.
Senior Katy Buckheit and junior Brittany Zimmer provided solid bench support in this weekend's games. Buckheit finished with eight digs and Zimmer sealed the deal by recording seven kills.
In the match against Rutgers-Newark, the ladies absolutely dominated. They won in three straight sets, with scores of 25-7, 25-9 and 25-9. Senior Kristen Kozielski led the team in assists with 10, while freshman Amelia Thomas added a career-high five digs. Sophomore Melissa Cole also took part in the shooting-squad with a total of five kills.
When I asked Coach Giovanazzi about the season outlook and how the team has been playing so far, he replied that "in order for the team to finish the conference at the top, we will have to do two things at a higher level: block and hit. It really is still fairly early so we are getting better and learning how to be a team."
"Individually, we are very talented; the need for us to run good practices, and the team to come into practices ready to work on their individual needs is huge. Right now Alli and Alex are carrying the load offensively. Sarah is getting back into last year's form. Brittany and KC combine to make the other outside hitter spot solid and are each getting better. Our setting has been very good, both Kristen, when we run two setters, and Becky who is setting the whole way, are doing a great job. They both serve well on top of leading well. We have three very good back-row players that are solid and all playing a lot. The freshmen have really been impressive and I see them being the ones to make the most improvement as they get used to the speed of the college game."
After this weekend, the ladies push their record to 9-2. The Jays returned to action Wednesday, playing versus Stevenson.
