HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College volleyball team was dropped by the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays, 3-1 (25-20, 25-19, 22-25, 25-16) at the Gooding '84 Arena on Wednesday night.
Senior Meg O'Day led the Fords with 16 kills while junior Valentine Courouble just missed a double-double with nine kills (.348 attack percentage) and 12 digs. The Fords had four people with at least 10 digs in seniors Jeanna Kenney (19), Nina Mutty (10), sophomore Zoe Wong (10) and Courouble. Wong recorded her first double-double of the season as she led the team with 15 assists. Erica Johnston had a match-high 21 kills in the win for the Blue Jays.
The turning point in set one was when Johns Hopkins went on a 7-0 spurt to take a 20-13 lead. The Fords scored the next two points, but three straight tallies by the Blue Jays put the set out of the reach. After falling behind in the second set, Haverford got back within three at 11-8, but Johns Hopkins separated itself with a 7-3 run. The Fords had an offensive push behind an attack error and two kills by O'Day to set the score at 18-14, leading to a Blue Jays' timeout. The visitors countered with four points after the stoppage to keep Haverford at bay and eventually take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Trailing 12-6 in the third set, Haverford rallied with eight of the next 10 points to cut its deficit to one (14-13). After a timeout, the Fords went on a tremendous surge, tallying six consecutive points, taking a 22-19 lead. The Blue Jays, looking for a sweep, didn't go away as an error and kill by Carolyn Zin made the set a one-point contest (22-21). The home team had three of the final four points highlighted by two kills from O'Day to win the set, 25-22.
The Blue Jays jumped in front with six of the first seven points in set four, but the Fords fought back to get the score within one at 11-10. Johns Hopkins scored eight straight points to take a 19-10 advantage and never looked back, winning the set 25-16 and the match, 3-1.
Haverford saw its record drop to 9-6 overall and 1-1 in the Centennial Conference while Johns Hopkins improved to 7-8 this season and 3-0 in the conference. The Fords will travel to Gettysburg for a tri-match with Randolph College and the Bullets beginning at 1 p.m.