This Week: Hopkins will participate in the Centennial Conference Tournament this weekend. They will open with a semifinal match against second seeded Franklin & Marshall on Saturday.

First Round (Thursday, November 4)

#5 Dickinson @ #4 Haverford - 7 pm

Semifinals (Saturday, November 6)

#2 Franklin & Marshall vs. Johns Hopkins - Noon

#4 Haverford/#5 Dickinson @ Gettysburg - 2:30 pm

Finals (Sunday, November 7)

Semifinal 1 winner vs. Semifinal 2 winner - Noon*

* - This match will be played at the highest remaining seed

The Coach: Scott Pennewill is currently in his second year at the helm of the Blue Jays. He currently owns a 40-18 (.690) record at Hopkins. His .647 winning percentage is the highest ever of any Blue Jay volleyball coach. In his first season, Pennewill guided JHU to a 23-9 record, an appearance in the Centennial Conference Finals and an ECAC Tournament berth.

Captain: Senior Betsy Baydala (Rockville Center, NY/Southside) will captain this year’s squad. This will be the second consecutive year that she will be the team captain.

Streaking: The Blue Jays have won their last 10 matches, a Hopkins record. The old record was nine matches, previously accomplished by the 2003 team. Prior to this the current 10-match run, the Blue Jays failed to put together any winning streak longer than three matches at any time this season.

Home Sweet Home: JHU has played nine matches at home this season, picking up eight victories (.889 winning percentage), with its only loss coming to Gettysburg, which finished first in the conference.

Baydala in the Record Book: Betsy Baydala continues to leave a lasting impression on the JHU volleyball record books before finishing her career. Baydala recorded 27 assists in a 3-0 win over St. Mary’s last weekend. Her 27th assist gave her the school record for career assists as she now has 3,434 assists.

Baydala also holds the JHU record for career digs with 1,597.

2. Michelle Dumler 3,376 1996-99

3. Courtney Cromwell 2,741 1999-02

1. Betsy Baydala 1,697 2001-pres.

2. Mary Alexis Paul 1,377 1997-2000

3. Katie Gleeson 1,306 1997-00

Baydala is also among the all-time leaders in Centennial Conference history in assists and digs. Her 3,434 assists are seventh best in Centennial history, while her 1,697 digs are the third best. The mark for digs in a career within the Centennial Conference is 1,704, held by Megan Wargo, from Gettysburg. Baydala is on pace to eclipse that mark this weekend.

Kay Sets Single-Season Digs Mark: Lizzie Kay (Pacific Palisades, CA/The Cate School) has collected 571 digs so far this season, a single-season school record. Kay broke her own mark of 500 digs in a season, which she set last year.

Kay, with 571 digs on the year, is currently in fourth place all-time on the Centennial Conference’s single-season digs list. The record is held by Megahan Godorov of Franklin & Marshall, and was set last season at 654.

Honor Her: In addition to setting the career assist and digs mark for Hopkins, Betsy Baydala was named the Centennial Conference co-player of the week. Baydala was instrumental in leading the Blue Jays to a perfect 4-0 mark last week. In addition to picking up the assists record, Baydala also garnered 36 kills (2.25 per game), 11 service aces and 48 digs.

The Blue Jays Among The Centennial Leaders: Lizzie Kay leads the Centennial Conference in digs per game with 6.49. The Blue Jays as a team led the conference in digs per game with 21.74.

JHU has two players on the hitting percentage charts, with Baydala fourth with a .259 mark, and Jen Hajj (Boca Raton/Pope John Paul II) eighth with a .244 mark.

Katie O’Callaghan (Babylon, NY/West Babylon) is second in the league with 3.68 kills per game. As a team Hopkins is second in the conference with 13.92 kills per game.

Kay Among The NCAA Leaders: Lizzie Kay not only leads the Blue Jays and the Centennial Conference in digs, but is ranked nationally as well. In matches played through 10/24, Kay was 16th in Division III in digs per game with 6.61. Karen Tobias of Maryville leads with 8.9 digs per game.

JHU In The Centennial Conference Tournament: By earning the third seed in the upcoming Conference Tournament, the Blue Jays will successfully continue their streak of qualifying for the Centennial Volleyball Tournament. Since the tournament began in 1997, only Johns Hopkins and Gettysburg have been involved in each of the seven tournaments. (There was no tournament in 1999). The Blue Jays have made two appearances in the finals, but have failed to win a title.

In the first year of the tournament, 1997, the Blue Jays, the third seed took on the second seeded Diplomats of Franklin & Marshall. The Diplomats took the match in three straight games, 3-0.

Again in 1998, Hopkins, the third seed, took on the Diplomats, the second seed again. The Diplomats took the first game, but JHU rebounded and took games two and three for a 2-1 advantage. Franklin & Marshall rallied to take game four, 16-14, and game five, 17-15, in thrilling fashion.

In 1999 there was no conference tournament as the Centennial Conference awarded the season winner the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. In 2000, the Tournament was reinstated, and the Blue Jays earned the second seed with a 9-1 conference mark. In the semifinals, JHU needed only three games to down the Bullets of Gettysburg, and set up a matchup with the top seeded Diplomats of Franklin & Marshall. The Blue Jays took the first game of the match, but F&M bounced back to take the next three and the conference title.

In 2001 the Blue Jays earned the fourth seed with a 7-3 conference mark, but lost to top-seeded Muhlenberg in three games. The next year, 2002, saw JHU move up to the third seed, which pitted them against second seeded Franklin & Marshall. After taking the first game, the Blue Jays lost the next three to fall to Diplomats, 3-1.

Last year, first-year head coach Scott Pennewill guided Hopkins to a 9-1 conference record and a second seed in the Centennial Conference Tournament. The Blue Jays faced Franklin & Marshall again in the semifinals, the fourth meeting between the two teams in a Centennial Semifinal match. Hopkins outlasted the Diplomats, and picked up a 3-2 victory and moved on to face Gettysburg. Earlier in the year the Bullets handed JHU its only conference loss of the season, and Hopkins looked to avenge the loss. Gettysburg jumped out to an early 2-0 game lead, but the Hopkins picked up the third game. In the fourth game, though, the Bullets took the game 30-21 and won the title.

No. 1 Gettysburg Bullets: Earlier this season, the Bullets handed Johns Hopkins one of its two conference losses of the season, in four games. Gettysburg leads the all-time series with Hopkins, 24-3 and has won the last five meetings between the two squads.

This will be the seventh appearance for Gettysburg in the Centennial playoffs. They, like JHU, have appeared in every Centennial Conference Tournament. The Bullets have made it to the final match five times and are a perfect 5-0 in title matches. Their only loss in the tournament came in 2000 semifinals to Hopkins. The Bullets and Blue Jays have met only twice in the Centennial Tournament with each team winning once.

No. 2 Franklin & Marshall: Like Gettysburg, the Diplomats handed Johns Hopkins one of its two conference losses on the year. The Diplomats took the match from JHU, 3-1, in Lancaster.

The appearance in the Centennial Tournament for Franklin & Marshall will be its sixth in the seven tournaments, (they failed to qualify in 2001). This year’s meeting between the two schools in the semifinals will be the fifth meeting in the semifinals. The Diplomats took the first three meetings, but Hopkins took last year’s match. Franklin & Marshall leads the all-time series between the two schools, 18-7.

No. 4 Haverford Fords: In an earlier meeting this season, the Blue Jays needed five games to defeat the Fords. The Fords took the first game, then JHU took games two and three to take a 2-1 lead. The Fords remained resilient and forced a game five with a win in game four. JHU took the deciding game, 15-12 and improved to 5-2 in the conference with the win.

Haverford will be making its fifth consecutive appearance in the Centennial Tournament. They have yet to win a tournament match yet, nor have they squared off against the Blue Jays. Hopkins leads the all-time series 15-4, with 13 wins in the last 14 meetings.

No. 5 Dickinson Red Devils: The Red Devils entered their regular season match with JHU with a perfect 5-0 conference mark. The Blue Jays, 4-1 in the conference at the time, swept the Red Devils, 3-0.

Dickinson will be making its first appearance in the Centennial Conference Tournament. The Blue Jays hold an 18-4 series advantage over Dickinson, with 18 straight wins. JHU has won five of the last six matches in three games.