On Friday Nov. 11th, Hopkins volleyball played in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in the program's history. While the Lady Jays lost to Randolph-Macon, 3-1, to end their season, Hopkins finished with an impressive final record of 25-5. Their winning percentage of .833 was a program record.
The set scores in the opening round of the tournament were 16-25, 18-25, 26-24, 21-25. The Yellow Jackets led early on in the first set, 6-2, but the Blue Jays battled back — with a service ace from freshman mid-hitter Ellen Rogers, which tied the set at eight.
The Blue Jays eventually gained a 17-13 lead, but Randolph-Macon regained control of the set, winning 25-16.
In the second set, the Yellow Jackets gained momentum early on again with a 7-3 advantage. The Blue Jays pulled to within two points behind a kill from freshman mid-hitter Kim Bronson and a block from classmate and outside hitter Megan Schwarz.
The Jays then gained three points in a row, followed by three-straight from the Yellow Jackets, who zipped ahead 19-12. Randolph-Macon then used a four-point run to earn its first set point. Hopkins, detemined to come back, got two straight points to cut the Yellow Jacket lead to 24-18, but JHU could not overcome the deficit.
With their backs against the wall, the Jays turned it around in the opening of the third set, gaining a lead with three-straight points. Randolph-Macon chipped away at the lead until they had a 4-3 advantage, but the Jays answered with five-straight points and regained their lead 11-9.
After the teams traded points, the Yellow Jackets were in the lead 21-18, and, with a kill from Yellow Jacket junior outside hitter Jessica Sears, Randolph-Macon gained their first match point. Staring at their season's end, Hopkins battled back with four-straight points to win the third set, 26-24, on a kill from freshman outside hitter Katie Schwarz, twin sister of Megan.
With one set to the Yellow Jackets' two, the Blue Jays gained an early lead in the fourth set before Randolph-Macon evened the score at six. The two teams continued to trade side outs until the Yellow Jackets took a 23-21 lead before ending Hopkins' season, 25-21.
Senior outside hitter Melissa Cole lead the team in her NCAA tournament debut with 26 digs. Cole finished her four-year career with 1,023 digs, placing her ninth in the record books for career digs. Cole also had four kills to bring her career total to 759.
Freshman libero Anne Cohen had 24 digs. Cohen now holds the JHU freshman record for digs per set. Freshman outside hitter Meagan Donohoe led the Blue Jays with 13 kills and had a season hitting percentage of .321.
Given Cole and Donohoe's impressive performance, it was no surprise they earned first team all-Mid-Atlantic Region honors, first team all-Centennial Conference honors and honorable mention all-American honors.
Cole was a two-time All-Centennial Conference honoree and Donohoe was the first freshman in school history to be named to the Centennial Conference's first team.
With just one graduating senior in Cole, the Lady Jays may be poised for another 20-win season in 2012 when they welcome back 16 pieces from their historic 2011 campaign.
