THE FACTS
No. 3 Johns Hopkins (28-2) 3, Gettysburg (23-5) 0
What: Centennial Conference (CC) volleyball tournament semifinals
When: Friday, Nov. 15
Where: Baltimore, Md.
THE SKINNY STORY
Johns Hopkins, the top seed and No. 3 team in the latest AVCA coaches' poll, had big runs in each of the three sets to defeat Gettysburg 3-0 in the semifinals of the 2024 Centennial Conference volleyball tournament.
THE LEADERS
•
Erin Gonzalez (Cincinnati, Ohio/Ursuline Academy) led the Bullets with 11 kills and hit .296 with four digs and two blocks.
FOR THE FOES
• Simone Adam led four Blue Jays with double-digit kills with 15.
THE REST OF THE STORY
• Tied at 1-all after the teams traded service errors to start the match, Johns Hopkins reeled off the next four points to take a 5-1 lead in the opening set. Gettysburg twice clawed back to as close as 9-8 but a pair of Simone Adam knockdowns and one from Alice Yu extended the lead to 12-8. The run extended to 8-1 before
Erin Gonzalez stopped the stretch with one of her five first-set kills. The Blue Jays reached set point with an Adam kill off the block before the Bullets scored three in a row to force a Johns Hopkins timeout at 24-20. Yu finished off the five-point win out of the stoppage with a crosscourt kill.
• Tied at 3-all in the second set, back-to-back Simrin Carlsen kills helped give the hosts a 6-3 edge. The lead extended to 9-4 to force a Gettysburg timeout. A Carlsen ace out of the stoppage, however, keyed another four straight to push the lead to 13-4. After a service error, Adam had two more kills to open up a double-digit advantage. The lead remained between nine and 11 points before the Bullets once again staved off set points twice but fell, 25-15.
• Tied at 2-all in the third set, Adam put down a kill that started a 4-0 run to give the Blue Jays a 6-2 advantage. With a chance to cut the deficit to 11-8, a net call instead gave Johns Hopkins the point and extended the lead to five, sparking a 5-2 run in the process to open up a 16-9 lead. Trailing 21-13, a block from
Clare Farrell (Livingston, N.J./Academy of St. Elizabeth) and
Mary Huegel (Marlboro, N.J./Colts Neck) sparked a 7-1 run that closed the margin to 22-20. However, kills from Ivy Swafford, Adam and Carlsen put away the 25-21 win and sweep.
THE INSIDE STORY
• With an assist on an
Erin Gonzalez kill early in the first set,
Kendall Erpenbeck (San Jose, Calif./Prospect) recorded the 1,000 set assist of her career. She finished the night with 16 helpers.
•
Nala Shearer (Lexington, Va./Rockbridge County) and
Kierra Fox (Phoenix, Ariz./Rancho Solano Prep School) led the defense with nine and seven digs, respectively.
•
Mary Huegel chipped in five kills, three blocks and two digs. As a team, Gettysburg had six total blocks.
• Johns Hopkins hit .387 as a team.
NEXT UP
The Bullets are expected to receive at al-large bid into the NCAA tournament and will find out on Monday at 1 p.m. their opponent and location for the regional, which begins on Thursday.
