ns volleyball team sought to ride their regular season success into the Centennial Conference playoffs in Haverford, Pa., but lost in five sets to Franklin & Marshall.
The Lady Jays, sporting a 19–11 regular season record, faced off against the 21–5 Diplomats. The sets went: 10–25, 25–23, 25–20, 21–25, 14–16. Franklin & Marshall moved on to the Centennial Conference championship game on Sunday, where they dispatched Haverford to win the title.
Junior Melissa Cole led Hopkins with 16 kills, while adding 16 digs on defense. Fellow junior Sarah Feicht was second in kills, contributing 12 to the offense, with two digs and block assists.
Senior Brittany Zimmer added nine kills, with five digs on defense. Sophomore Becky Paynter led the team with 48 assists, adding five digs and two block assists on defense. Senior Alicia Diehl led the team with 22 digs.
“We had a couple of opportunities to make plays that could have sealed the victory but just came up short,” Coach Matt Troy said. “The team played their hearts out; just have to tip our hats to F&M for a match well-played.”
Franklin & Marshall had four players with double digits in kills, Kerry Rom (14), Nicole Morano (14), Sydney Seydel (13) and Candice Tussing (10). Seydel also recorded the only solo block for both teams. Pam Horner led the Diplomats with 52 assists and 16 digs.
The 2010 season featured a nine-game winning streak for the Hopkins volleyball team, which began on October 12th against Franklin & Marshall. Prior to the winning streak, the team was 10-11.
Coach Troy spoke about his first year as coach of the Lady Jays.
“I was extremely proud of the job these young ladies did,” Troy said. “We made tremendous strides since the start of the season. I have never experienced such a close-knit group in all my years of coaching and it was an absolute joy coaching them.”
Prior to coaching the Hopkins volleyball team, Troy had been the head coach for the volleyball team at Howard Community College for one season. He also has experience as the head coach of the Carroll Viper Volleyball Club for three years, and as an assistant coach at Gettysburg College. Troy felt that the transition to coaching for a new school was eased by all the help he received.
“The team did a great job getting me up to speed on the ins and outs of Hopkins,” Troy added. “The athletics staff here is extremely helpful and the supportive environment allows for all the success Hopkins teams have on a year-to-year basis. Just knowing the day-to-day operations will help in planning ahead for future seasons.”
With the end of the season also comes the end of the college volleyball careers of the seniors. Leaving the team are outside hitter KC Stingl, middle hitter Brittany Zimmer, middle blocker Sarah Feicht, libero Alica Diehl and defensive specialists Taryn Segal and Katie Kings. Coach Troy spoke about the six players departing the team.
“I don't know if you ever fill the shoes of those graduating,” Troy said. “I believe the next crop of young talent comes in and adds to the legacy set from the previous classes. These six seniors will hold a special place with me since they were my first at Hopkins.”
Though the playoff loss did not go as planned for the Lady Jays, the team has much to be proud of, as they made an impact on the Hopkins volleyball record books.
“Most of these players hadn't had a lot of playing experience coming into this season,” Troy added. “They set eight top-10 team records in Hopkins volleyball history, as well as eight individual season records in the top-15.”
In addition, seniors Zimmer and Diehl were named to the ESPN Academic All-District Teams, becoming the sixth and seventh Hopkins volleyball players to earn that distinction. Zimmer was named to the second team, while Diehl was named to the third team.
Despite individual accomplishments by the players, Coach Troy praised the team’s cohesion and teamwork.
“I'm sure they would trade all of that just for another day to play together,” Troy said. “That's just the type of team they are, proud of their accomplishments but unselfish in the end.”
