THE FACTS
Johns Hopkins (16-8) 3, Gettysburg (18-9) 1
What: Centennial Conference (CC) tournament first round volleyball match
When: Wednesday, Nov. 11
Where: Baltimore, Md.
THE SKINNY STORY
Gettysburg won the opening set but Johns Hopkins won the next three, including surviving a back-and-forth third set, for a 3-1 win in the opening round of the 2026 Centennial Conference volleyball tournament.
THE LEADERS
•
Gianna Galli (Demarest, N.J./Northern Valley Demarest) led the Bullets with a career-high nine blocks.
FOR THE FOES
• Ivy Swofford led the Blue Jays on attack with 21 kills and 21 digs.
THE REST OF THE STORY
•
Kierra Fox (Phoenix, Ariz./Rancho Solano Prep) opened the match with ace to fuel a 3-0 start for Gettysburg. Johns Hopkins was within 8-7 but four straight attacking errors – two of which were blocked by
Emma Bradshaw (East Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) and
Gianna Galli – extended the Bullets' lead to their largest at 12-7 to that point and forced a timeout. An Ella Wismer kill stopped a run of five straight points and started a 3-0 counter that made it 13-11. Holding a 15-12 lead, Bradshaw knocked down a kill to start another 5-2 stretch that opened up a 20-14 lead and forced the Blue Jays' second timeout. Anna Pantano and Wismer each knocked down a kill out of the stoppage but
Kaitlyn Hedrich (Mokena, Ill./Lincoln Way) dumped a kill, attacking on two reach set point. Johns Hopkins staved it off twice but
Ava Grall (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla./Ponte Vedra) knocked one off the block for a 25-18 win.
• The teams traded points early before the Blue Jays got a pair of Ivy Swafford kills to run off four straight and turn a 4-3 edge into an 8-3 lead. The lead oscillated between four and five points until a Bradshaw kill and Hedrich ace made it 14-11. Swafford and Ebert combined for kills on four of the next five points to open up an 18-12 advantage. Gettysburg got back to within 18-14 but could get no closer and Johns Hopkins evened the match at 1-all with a 25-17 victory.
• In a back-and-forth start to the third set, the Bullets were the first to open up a two-point lead when a
Clare Farrell (Livingston, N.J./Academy of Saint Elizabeth) ace made it 6-4. A Swafford kill and ace retied the set at 6-all and the back-and-forth was back on. Kills from Ebert and Bethany Sherwood gave the hosts their first two-point lead at 15-13 but Gettysburg notched the next two to tie the set for the 13th time. A Swafford kill and back-to-back aces gave the Blue Jays an 18-15 lead. Hedrich dumped a kill over out of a stoppage before a service error. Nicole Tuszyski ticked the ensuing serve off the net to open up a 20-16 advantage. Five straight Bullet points around a Johns Hopkins timeout gave the visitors their first lead since 12-11 with a 21-20 edge. The Blue Jays, however, got a kill from Wismer to tie it once again and an Annika Anderson ace turned the one-point deficit into a one-point lead.
Erin Gonzalez (Cincinnati, Ohio/Ursuline Academy) glanced one off the block for the 16th and final tie of the set. Wisner and Ebert bookended a 3-1 finish for a 25-23 win.
• Johns Hopkins jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the fourth set before a Hedrich serve off the tape and down closed the deficit to 4-3. The Blue Jays, however, tallied the next three to open up a 7-3 advantage, sparking a 9-2 stretch overall to build a 13-5 lead. Gettysburg, though, tallied seven of the next eight points to close to within 14-12 but that's as close as the Bullets would get in the 25-19 final.
THE INSIDE STORY
• Johns Hopkins advances to Friday's semifinals at No. 2 seed Swarthmore.
•
Emma Bradshaw paced the Gettysburg attack with nine kills and added six total blocks.
