Box Score

BALTIMORE – Johns Hopkins University won the final three sets and captured its first Centennial Conference volleyball championship with a 3-1 win over Gettysburg College inside Goldfarb Gym Saturday night.

Gettysburg (19-11) won the first set 25-21, but Johns Hopkins (25-4) won the final three 25-21, 25-18 and 25-23 to earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.

The Bullets started hot, jumping out to an 8-3 lead in the first set following back-to-back service aces by senior Katie McConville. The lead expanded to 17-9 before the hosts went on a run to cut it to 23-20. After sophomore Lizzy Kuhn pushed a kill to the right corner, McConville polished off the win with a kill on the right side.

The second set stayed within two points until a three-point spurt by Johns Hopkins made it 18-14. Gettysburg tallied six of the next eight points, taking a 21-20 lead on a block by sophomores Courtney Cyr and Kelly Milione. The lead didn't hold as the Blue Jays turned in the next five points.

Johns Hopkins fell behind 11-10 in the third set before a six-point run gave the hosts the lead for good. The momentum carried over into the fourth contest as the hosts ran off the first four points.

Sophomore Sarah Gorski put a stop to the run with a kill off a slide, enabling Gettysburg to stay within striking distance. With Johns Hopkins up 16-12, the Bullets ran off an 8-3 spurt to take a 20-19 lead. The Blue Jays regained the upper-hand with back-to-back attack errors by Gettysburg, and despite the visitors tying the set at 23, the hosts polished off the tournament title with kills by Katie Schwarz and Meagan Donohoe.

Gorski finished with a career-high 17 kills. Senior Virginia Hogan (Alpharetta, Ga./Chattahoochee) and McConville each turned in 10 kills, the former adding 14 digs and the latter putting up a dozen digs.

Senior Rebecca Rubenstein recorded 17 digs and senior Brooke Wano posted 12 digs. Rubenstein closed the 2011 campaign with 534 digs, tied for the third-highest single-season total in school history. Her 1,353 career digs ranks her seventh all-time.

Katie Schwarz posted match highs with 20 kills and 22 digs for Johns Hopkins. Melissa Cole added 13 kills and 16 digs and Donohoe posted a dozen digs. Anne Cohen put up 19 digs.