The women’s Hopkins volleyball team experienced a tough weekend as they battled in the Wild Guisler Invitational. Held in Hunnington, Pa., the Jays fought hard to represent the Black and Blue away from home.
In their first game on Saturday the Jays faced 11th ranked Juniata College. Hopkins started off slowly being outscored by a large margin of 25-10 in the first set. Going into the second set Hopkins still had not improved the intensity and dropped the set 25-13. Despite facing a large deficit the team picked up their game heading into the third set and put up a fight against the Eagles. The Jays kept the score tight for the majority of the set, but the Eagles would eventually pull away with a close win and end the set by a final score of 26-24. After coming off of a slow start Hopkins was able to match up pretty well to the 11th ranked Eagles, but they would still end up losing the game three sets to zero.
Having dropped three straight sets in their first game, the Jays had a long way to recover and a small amount of time to do so before their next game on Sunday. Hopkins started their second game of the tournament against the Carnegie Mellon Tartans. The Jays started off in full force winning the first set 25-14. The Tartans would regain strength in the second set and defeat Hopkins 25-14. Each team tied at one set each, and the third set was pivotal. Both teams started the set aggressively and fought strenuously for each point. Unfortunately the Jays would drop the third set 25-23 giving the Tartans a two sets to one lead. Fighting to remain in the game Hopkins came into the fourth set with great enthusiasm. Keeping a solid lead throughout the set, the Jays would maintain this lead and eventually win the fourth set with a score of 25-22. Going into the tiebreaker both teams had their eyes set on the win. With both teams fighting for the win, it was a tight set with lots of emotion. The Jays would unfortunately drop the set by a score of 15-10 giving Carnegie Mellon a three sets to two win over Hopkins. Sophomore Stephanie Yokoyama and junior Meagan Donohue had great performances on the court and helped to advance much of the Jays offense.
The Jays couldn’t mourn the loss for long for they had a short break until they would hit the court again. In their second game on Sunday and their final game of the Wild Guisler Invitational the Jays went up against the DeSales Bulldogs. Coming into the game with a 0-2 record for the tournament, this was Hopkins last chance to prove their worth and gain a win. Both teams started off strong keeping pretty even with one another in the points. The Bulldogs would take the first set over the Jays with a score of 25-23. Not willing to drop two sets in a row Hopkins started off the second set with a force that could not be matched by DeSales. The Jays would take the second set with a score of 27-25.
Feeling the rush of being ahead the Jays went into the third set with great enthusiasm. Hopkins blew out the Bulldogs in the third set with a score of 25-16. With only one more set to go to seal a victory for the Jays, DeSales could feel the game slipping from their hands and began to bump up their team intensity. The Bulldogs turned around and handed the Jays the same crushing blow that DeSales had just felt with a 25-16 win in the fourth set. Going into the tiebreaker set Hopkins was losing their last chance to gain a win in the tournament. Both teams put up quite a fight with points being exchanged evenly throughout the game. The DeSales Bulldogs, however, would end the set with a score of 15-12, defeating the Jays three sets to two.
Yokoyama once again had a great game. Donohue was named to the All-Tournament Team with a standout performance over the weekend after posting 38 kills, six service aces and 17 digs. The Lady Jays will close out their season this Friday when they travel to Carlisle, Pa. to take on the Dickinson Red Devils. The match is slated to begin at 1 p.m. as Hopkins will look to finish out the season and Centennial Conference play with a big win.
