After a strong performance the previous weekend, the Hopkins women’s volleyball team returned to action last Wednesday to take on conference opponent McDaniel College. Despite McDaniel’s last place position in the conference standings, the Blue Jays knew they needed to stay focused. Despite already clinching a spot in the Centennial Conference tournament, Hopkins still needed to be on top of their game with this final regular season home matchup holding playoff implications.
Even with two straight non-conference wins, the Green Terror entered the match up winless in conference play. Hopkins held the series advantage 17-16, and it was clear early on they had no desire to allow McDaniel to even the series. In the first set the Blue Jays hammered away a .591 hitting percentage to win the set 25-9. McDaniel fought back in the second set, but ultimately came up short in a 25-19 losing effort. The third and final set was all Hopkins as the Blue Jays posted a .344 hitting percentage to quickly end the match 25-9.
A duo of freshman in Caitlin Callihan and Jasmine Warmington led the way with seven kills apiece. Meanwhile senior Becky Paynter distributed 15 assists in the win. With the victory, Hopkins finished a perfect 8-0 at home, running its win streak to a remarkable 28 matches in Goldfarb Gym.
Next up for the Lady Jays was Gettysburg College. The Bullets came into the match after losing a five set heartbreaker Wednesday against first place Franklin & Marshall. Luckily for the Blue Jays the disappointment for Gettysburg seemed to carry over to the weekend. Hopkins held Gettysburg to a .014 hitting percentage, winning in straight sets (25-17, 25-15, 25-11).
Despite falling behind early in the first set, the Blue Jays fired back to defeat the Bullets 25-17. Freshman Gabi Rothman credited the surge to the team’s emphasis on “Energy, enthusiasm and playing strong defense.”
Hopkins finished out the set with two consecutive kills by sophomore Megan Cohan on assists from fellow sophomore Mariel Metalios. Hopkins then built their lead by tallying a .625 hitting percentage in the second set victory. The Bullets finally folded in the final set, winning 25-11. Freshman Jasmine Warmington commented on the victory, “We did a really nice job of spreading the ball around which allowed all of our hitters to get one on ones. We were also much more efficient.”
In the match, Cohan had a match-high eight kills (.727 pct.), while Metalios and freshman Carolyn Zin combined for 29 assists in the win. Meanwhile Gettysburg struggled offensively the entire match, tallying a meager 16 kills in the entire match. The discrepancy between the two teams may have been due to the likes of Metalios and Zin. Warmington praised the team effort saying “It all started with our passes which were spot on.”
With the victory the Blue Jays improved to 9-1 in the Centennial Conference. Unfortunately for Hopkins (27-3 overall), Franklin & Marshall also came out victorious Saturday with a 3-0 win over Dickinson College. With the win, Franklin & Marshall locked up the number one seed in the conference tournament along with home court advantage.
While F&M will take on the winner of the Haverford College v. Gettysburg match up in the first round of the tournament, Hopkins will face off against Swarthmore College in the semi-finals on November 4th. In their previous match up this fall the Blue Jays dispatched Swarthmore in straight sets.
As the girls prepare all week the team will look to stay healthy and energized. Warmington also emphasized that “Our biggest focus is to continue working hard and playing hard for each other. It’s what we’ve been working for all year and we have a statement to make.”
With a win against Swarthmore, Hopkins will probably have a chance to face off against Franklin & Marshall and finally get their shot at redemption. Earlier in the year the Diplomats handed the Blue Jays their lone conference loss of the season. A motivated squad will most definitely be looking for revenge and a shot at defending their conference championship. Warmington concluded, “We need to continue playing like we have been, all of the pieces are falling together and I’m beyond stoked to make another run at this title.”
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