Oct. 3, 2006

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A Look Back and a Look Ahead at Blue Jay Volleyball:

A Look Back at the Previous Week:

Johns Hopkins opened its Centennial Conference schedule last week by going 1-1, falling to Gettysburg at home before picking up a victory at Muhlenberg on Saturday.

Gettysburg continued its recent success against Hopkins posting a 3-0 victory over the Blue Jays (22-30, 16-30, 28-30). The Bullets have now won nine straight contests over the Blue Jays. Adrienne Young posted 10 kills in the match while Amanda Lewis dished out 25 assists and Lizzie Kay recorded 15 digs.

It was a different story for the Blue Jays on Saturday in Allentown, PA. Hopkins posted a 3-1 win over Muhlenberg (30-20, 30-24, 27-30, 30-17) for its first Centennial Conference win of the year. Sophomores Kim Jackanich and Amanda Lewis posted double-doubles to lead Hopkins to the victory. Jackanich finished with 16 kills and 15 digs while Lewis dished out 50 assists to go along with 20 digs. Kay posted a team high 29 digs while Natalia Fijalkowski just missed a double-double with nine kills and 20 digs.

Gearing Up for the Garnet:

The Blue Jays will be looking for their 13th straight win over the Garnet when the team travels to Swarthmore on Wednesday night. Hopkins is 15-4 all-time vs. Swarthmore entering the 2006 season.

Last year when the two teams met, the Blue Jays posted a 3-1 victory in Baltimore. Natalia Fijalkowski posted a double-double in that match with 16 kills and 18 digs while Amanda Lewis had 54 assists. For the Garnet in that contest, Erica George had 10 kills and Jen Wang had 15 digs.

Swarthmore is coming off a 3-1 loss to Dickinson over the weekend. In that match, George posted a double-double with 10 kills and 13 digs while Kearney Bangs had 34 assists and 17 digs.

Defending Against the Diplomats:

Hopkins will be looking for its third win in the last four tries against Franklin & Marshall when the team travels to Lancaster on Saturday. The Blue Jays are 9-19 all-time vs. the Diplomats.

The Blue Jays went 1-1 against the Diplomats last year, beating the Dips in the regular season but losing in the Centennial Conference semifinals. In the regular season, Hopkins picked up the 3-1 victory in Baltimore. In that match Kim Jackanich posted 13 kills and Amanda Lewis posted a double-double with 53 assists and 11 digs. For the Diplomats, Margot Phelan had 12 kills.

In the Centennial Conference semifinals, Franklin & Marshall picked up the 3-1 victory. Lewis had a double-double for the Blue Jays with 48 assists and 11 digs. Phelan led the Diplomats with 20 kills.

Franklin & Marshall enters the week looking to get back on track after going 1-3 at the Trinity University Tournament over the weekend. The Diplomats will travel to Gettysburg on Wednesday before returning home to host Hopkins on Saturday.

Battling the League Leaders:

Hopkins will face several of the league leaders in the different stats categories this week. Swarthmore leads the Centennial league in blocks with 2.59 per game while Karen Berk, Katherine Gold and Vanessa Wells rank second, fifth and tenth respectively in that category. Franklin & Marshall leads the league in hitting percentage, assists, kills, service aces and digs. The Diplomats' Erica Spangler leads the league in service aces with 0.75 per game and Susan Taylor is second in hitting percentage at .326.

The Blue Jays' opponents aren't the only ones leading the way in the stats categories, as Amanda Lewis' 12.71 assists per game top that category. Also Lizzie Kay tops the Centennial with 6.60 digs per game.