Volleyball Tops F&M and Shenandoah in Regular Season Finale - Johns Hopkins University Athletics (2024)

Blue Jays Clinch Top Seed in Centennial Conference Tournament

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 BALTIMORE, MD – Johns Hopkins volleyball hosted Franklin & Marshall and Shenandoah in its regular season finale Saturday afternoon, taking down the Diplomats 3-1 (24-26, 25-18, 25-19, 25-13) before securing the sweep with another 3-1 (25-14, 25-27, 25-18, 25-13) win over the Hornets. The Blue Jays were the master of their own fate in Saturday's match against Franklin & Marshall, with the win clinching them the No. 1 seed for the upcoming Centennial Conference Tournament, marking the fourth straight season they will be the top team.

Match 1: Johns Hopkins 3, F&M 1

Hopkins (23-4, 9-1 Centennial) put together one of its most complete performances of the season in Saturday's opening win over F&M. Pamela Chiakpo led the way on the attacking side with a career-high 18 kills on a .484 hitting percentage, with Simrin Carlsen (17), Chidinma Onukwugha (9) and Roxy Karrer (8) also contributing well. Helena Swaak ended the match with a game-high 48 assists, while on the defensive end it was Alice Yu having a career day herself, tallying 10 blocks — just one rejection shy of tying the most in a four-set match in program history. As a team the Jays registered a new season-high 14 blocks in the win.

Saturday's first set was one of runs, with the Diplomats (18-6, 8-2 Centennial) using a 4-0 run to go ahead 5-2 before Carlsen's second kill of the day sparked Hopkins' own 4-0 run to retake the lead at 6-5. With F&M holding a slight 13-10 lead, a 5-0 burst threatened to put the set out of reach, but the Jays responded once again, this time with a 9-0 run that featured a trio of Carlsen kills and a pair of blocks by Yu and Swaak to jump in front 19-18. Hopkins had a chance to close out the set after a Chiakpo kill made it 24-23, but the Diplomats would score the next three points to take Set 1 26-24.

Set 2 opened up with the Jays taking an early 4-2 lead, extending it to four after a trio of Chiakpo kills and a Carlsen ace made it a 9-5 set. That was as big as the advantage would get, however, as F&M stayed within three points of Hopkins until it was 20-18. From there, a service error would spark a set-closing 5-0 run to close it 25-18 and level the match score at 1-1.

The Diplomats took control of Saturday's third set, holding an 8-5 advantage before the Jays began the climb back. After a ball-handling error tied the game at eight, neither side was able to break away, with the score remaining even at 12-12 before Hopkins finally began its run. A block from Yu and Onukwugha gave the Jays back the lead and kickstarted a 6-1 run that would put them up 18-13. The Diplomats cut into the lead at 19-16, but it was Hopkins securing six of the next nine points to take Set 3 25-19 and grab the 2-1 lead.

The final set of the afternoon's opening match was all Blue Jays, with a 5-1 run that featured an Onukwugha kill and pair of Yu blocks putting them in the driver's seat early. Hopkins held a safe advantage until a quick 5-1 run from F&M cut the lead to two at 12-10. Ready with a response, however, were the Jays, who went on their own 5-1 burst to go ahead 17-11. The sides traded the next couple of points before Chiakpo's career-best 18^th kill ignited a set and match-closing 7-0 run.

Match 2: Johns Hopkins 3, Shenandoah 1

Saturday's finale was another strong showing for Hopkins on the attacking side, as the Jays hit .325 compared to just .132 for the Hornets (8-20, 2-10 ODAC). Carlsen led the way with 22 kills — her sixth match with at least 20 kills on the year — on a .514 hitting percentage, while Swaak finished with another game-best 41 helpers. The sophomore also had an incredible day behind the service line, racking up a career-high seven aces, falling just one shy of tying the program record for aces in a four-set match. On the defensive side Chiakpo tallied a season-best seven blocks, while Grace Reininga led the way with 12 digs.

Onukwugha started the festivities with a kil before an attacking error gave Hopkins a 2-0 lead. Shenandoah quickly leveled the game at two, but that is as close as the match would get with the Jays pulling away from there. With Hopkins ahead 9-7 the Jays rattled off the next eight points with kills coming from Onukwugha, Karrer and Chiakpo as well as a pair of Onukwugha-Chiakpo rejections to fly ahead 17-7. The Hornets stopped the bleeding with a 4-0 run of their own, but an 8-2 run that concluded with a Carlsen slam ended Set 1 25-14.

Set 2 was the only one of its kind that saw Shenandoah outhit Hopkins en route to the surprise win. The Jays once again took an early lead at 4-0, but as the set continued it was the Hornets tying the frame at six and eventually taking jumping in front. Despite six ties, three lead changes, and a heroic effort from Swaak — the sophomore tallied five of her seven service aces to lead a 9-0 Jays run and tie the game at 24 after being down 24-15 — Hopkins could not close things out, eventually dropping the set 27-25.

The Jays righted the ship in the third set of Saturday's finale, riding seven kills from Carlsen to a 25-18 win. Hopkins capitalized on kills from Onukwugha and Karrer to go ahead 2-0. The set stayed within three until it was 11-8 and a 5-2 run put the Jays up 16-10. The Hornets went point-for-point the rest of the way with the Jays, keeping it close at 22-18 before a 3-0 run closed out the set and put Hopkins up 2-1.

Set 4 was the Jays' best defensive effort, tallying six blocks and holding Shenandoah to a hitting percentage of -.125 while they hit a match-high .421 themselves. A 4-0 start to the set put Hopkins in control in a set they never trailed, steadily pulling away with a series of 4-0 bursts to eventually go up 23-10. The Hornets stole two points back to get within 11, but another point from Chiakpo and Emma Dionne's second collegiate kill ended the set 25-13 and the match 3-1.

Next up for the Jays is the Centennial Conference Playoffs, where they will await the highest remaining seed after the quarterfinal round.