Volleyball bounces back after hard loss

This past weekend, the Hopkins women’s volleyball team headed to Swarthmore College for a pair of matches against stiff competition. In the early afternoon session against the host squad, the Lady Jays had a 2-1 advantage heading into the fourth set before dropping the final two sets against a tough Swarthmore team. In the late afternoon portion of the competition, the Lady Jays were able to respond and dominate against Neumann en route to a decisive 3-0 victory. With the split, Hopkins evened their record to a 10-10 on the season, while the loss to Swarthmore dropped them to 1-2 in Centennial Conference play. However, the Lady Jays established a lead and offered a fierce challenge to one of the top teams in the conference. Swarthmore now sits at 11-4 on the season, including an unblemished 4-0 record within the Centennial.

In the first match against the Garnet, freshman Kristi Rhead was among the standouts for the Lady Jays with 10 kills and 40 assists over the course of the drawn-out five set match. Meanwhile, freshman Liz Wuerstle, sophomore Ally Hirsch and freshman Mereze Visagie paced the attack in the first match, each tallying over 10 kills a piece as well. Wuerstle, a talented outside hitter for the Lady Jays, tallied 14 kills and four digs in the match. Hirsch, a key setter, added one dig and one block to go along with her 15 kills. Finally, Visagie totaled four blocks and a dig to add on to her 12 kills.

Senior Anne Cohen was all over the court defensively, totalling 24 digs against the Garnet. The defense was also steadied from an excellent effort from freshman outside hitter Erica Johnston, who ended the contest with 21 digs and added an additional five kills.

Following the hard fought contest against Swarthmore, the Lady Jays had to quickly lick their wounds and prepare for redemption against a tough Neumann squad. Neumann, entering the day’s contests at 13-4, had an unblemished 5-0 record in the Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC).

However, Hopkins asserted its dominance on the court early and made quick work of the Knights in three sets by scores of 25-15, 25-15, and 25-17.

Offensively, Hirsch led the way against the Knights with 11 total kills across the three matches. Johnston put together a strong all-around performance for the Lady Jays, as she notched seven kills, two assists, and 10 digs in the victory.

Rhead put together yet another fantastic performance as she dished out 19 assists to go along with two kills and another 11 digs, while junior setter Carolyn Zin added 13 assists to help fuel the relentless Lady Jay attack.

The win was a satisfying one for the Lady Jays squad after dropping a very close match earlier in the afternoon.

This Wednesday, the Lady Jays return to action on Saturday to face Ursinus. Ursinus currently sits at 12-6 on the season, including a 1-3 mark in Centennial Conference play.

Despite their poor conference record, the match against the Bears will be no walk in the park. Both teams are looking to battle their way to a much needed win to help them find their way to the conference tournament.

The season has yet to reach the halfway point for the Lady Jays, and there will be a lot to watch as Hopkins enters the prime portion of their conference schedule.