Top-Ranked CMS Volleyball Earns Impressive Sweep of No. 7 Johns Hopkins
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Johns Hopkins (3-2,0-0 Centennial) | 20 | 19 | 15 | 0 |
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Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (5-0,0-0 SCIAC) | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
ATLANTA, Ga. - Playing its first match as the No. 1 ranked team in the nation, the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps volleyball team showed no signs of yielding its throne, rolling to a 25-20, 25-19, 25-15 win over No. 7 Johns Hopkins on the opening day of the East-West Battle, hosted by Emory.
With the win, CMS improves to 5-0 on the season, all by 3-0 sweeps, including two wins over teams ranked No. 7 in the nation (the Athenas also defeated NYU last weekend when they were ranked No. 7). Johns Hopkins, which won the 2019 national title and was ranked No. 1 almost the entire regular season a year ago, falls to 3-1 with the loss.
All-American Jenna Holmes, the reigning SCIAC Offensive Player of the Week, once again keyed the CMS win with 18 kills and .405 hitting percentage. Audrey Sawyer added six kills in 13 attempts with no errors, while hitting .462, and Summer Ellis had five kills and no errors in 13 attempts for a .357 percentage. Isabel Yau-Weeks chipped in with three service aces, of the 10 that the Athenas recorded.
Spencer Hagenbuch (21 assists) and Georgia McGovern (16 assists) split the setting duties, while Dede Carranza led the defense with 15 digs. Holmes also had 10 digs for her fourth double-double in five matches this season, a feat made more challenging by the fact that CMS has not been pushed past three sets as of yet.
As a team, CMS hit .340 on the match with 44 kills and only 10 errors. Defensively, CMS held the Blue Jays to just a .141 percentage, with 15 errors to go with 29 kills.
CMS will next take on No. 2 Trinity and No. 14 Emory tomorrow on the second day of the East-West Battle. A year ago, the Athenas played the same two teams on the same day at the same tournament (hosted by Cal Lutheran) and earned 3-1 wins in both matches, when the Tigers were ranked No. 1 and the Eagles were ranked No. 2. This year, CMS is ranked No. 1, as Trinity will try to reverse the script and knock the Athenas off the top spot in the rankings.