HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College volleyball team (7-11, 2-2 CC) was defeated by No. 9 Johns Hopkins (15-3, 4-0 CC) inside Gooding '84 Arena on Saturday afternoon, falling in straight sets to the defending CC champion Blue Jays. Set scores for the match were 26-26, 25-20, 25-16.
Kira Chaney paced the Fords with 10 kills, as Claire Jordan recorded eight. Kayla Chu added 24 assists. Chaney and Taylor Jones each delivered a pair of service aces, while Juliet Young notched 11 digs. Jones and Izabela Potocnjak each added a pair of blocks.
Simrin Carlsen was the standout for the visiting Jays, as she tallied a .514 hitting percentage with 21 kills against just two errors on 37 total swings. She also added 11 digs. Grace Reininga added 12 digs while Helena Swaak was a force with 38 assists and four service aces. Alice Yu had a game-best four total blocks.
Haverford came out firing in the first set, hitting .290 and playing some truly spirited volleyball to get out to a 10-4 run over the Blue Jays. The stretch saw a pair of aces from Chaney and key early blocks from Jones and Chu. Jones delivered a service ace and suddenly Haverford found itself in command of things in the early goings.
The lead hit 14-8 after a block from Eliana Brown and Jones, and Haverford felt comfortable as late as 16-11 following back-to-back kills from Jones and Chaney. Johns Hopkins made its run, tying things at 16-16, before the Fords jetted out on a 2-0 spurt for an 18-16 lead. Chu's service ace put the Fords up 20-17, but Johns Hopkins rallied back to tie things at 21-21.
Ultimately, Haverford had set point following a kill from Jones, but the Blue Jays fended it off, grabbing serve thanks to a kill from Carlsen. A Haverford error gave the visitors set point of their own, and ultimately Alice Yu ended the first set with a kill at 26-24.
The Fords looked strong in the second stanza, staying with the Jays as the Fords were down by just two at 11-9 following a tidy 3-0 run. The visitors kept their lead hovering around four, but a Fords charge put the hosts back within one at 18-17 following a pair of kills from Claire Jordan and a service ace from Jones. The Fords would not get back within one for the remainder of the frame, as the visitors ultimately took a 25-20 win adding back-to-back points down the stretch. The set ended on a block from Carlsen and Yu.
The third set again saw the Fords hanging right with the ninth-ranked Jays despite the visitors hitting .517 in the frame. The two sides were tied at 5-5 early, and Haverford was within two at 10-8. Haverford called for timeout as Carlsen delivered again for a four-point cushion, and Haverford searched for answers with a stoppage that came with the score 19-12 in favor of Johns Hopkins.
Coming out of the timeout, a 3-0 Haverford run trimmed things back down to just a four-point lead, and after a Potocnjak at 20-16, Haverford had designs on another solid stretch to get right back into things. The Blue Jays had other plans from that point, delivering the final five points of the contest to pull away 25-16.
Haverford now returns to Centennial Conference action on Wednesday, October 18, making the quick trip to Bi-Co neighbor Bryn Mawr for a 7 p.m. first serve against the Owls. The Fords then head to Franklin & Marshall on Saturday, October 21 (1 p.m) to wrap up a two-match road swing.