FREDERICKSBURG, Va. -- Despite a gutsy comeback in the third set and a valiant performance throughout the match, the 24th-ranked Christopher Newport volleyball team saw its 2016 campaign come to an end as the Captains fell to Johns Hopkins, 3-1 (25-21, 25-23, 24-26, 25-16), during the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday afternoon at Mary Washington's Rosner Arena.
Against the Blue Jays,
Maddie McCann punctuated her career with 13 kills, while fellow senior
Briana Sutton added 10. Defensively,
Rachel Close pocketed a team-high 14 digs,
Evelyn Harper collected 13, and
Hannah Miller assisted on four blocks. With her performance, Close became just the fourth player in program history to eclipse 1,500 career digs, finishing her standout tenure with 1,513. She also became just the fifth Captain to top 500 digs in a single season after capping off the year with 508.
With the setback, CNU ends 2016 with a 25-10 record. Johns Hopkins improves to 20-8 and advances to the second round of the NCAA tournament for a date with No. 10 Juniata on Saturday.
In the opening frame, Johns Hopkins stormed out to a fast 8-3 lead before McCann single-handedly kept the Captains in the contest. The senior picked apart the Blue Jays with five kills during the middle of the stanza. She pin-balled a rocket through a block attempt, blasted one off the libero, dropped in a pair of tips, and pounded an overpass after a blistering serve by
Hope Webb was mishandled by the opposition.
Following McCann's surge, CNU eventually chipped its deficit down to two. During a four-point run, Sutton saved a pass from landing on press row before Webb floated the ball over the net and onto the back line for a gentle, pinpoint kill. Moments later, flashing some power,
Katie Piper snapped off an ace, and Sutton tattooed a defender to pull CNU within striking distance at 18-16.
Unfortunately, Johns Hopkins had more left in the tank. Although Webb landed back-to-back kills late in the frame and McCann dropped in another dart, the Blue Jays pulled away for a 25-21 victory.
In the second set,
Katelyn Newsome found her grove early with two quick kills, including a scorcher through a block attempt. Later, Webb dumped in a kill, while Miller and Sutton teamed up for a block and two daggers to snatch a 12-9 edge heading into a JHU timeout. Sadly, the stoppage was just what the Blue Jays needed as the squad ripped off five straight winners to flip the script and snare a 14-12 advantage.
With the momentum firmly planted on the Hopkins sideline, Piper returned to the service line and gave the Captains a little jolt. The freshman kept the opposition on their heels, including a missile that deflected off three defenders before settling to the court for an ace. Guided by those efforts, Christopher Newport managed to grab another two-point lead at 16-14, but the Blue Jays retaliated again.
Shaking off the momentary setback, Johns Hopkins won seven of the next 10 rallies to earn a 21-19 edge heading into a CNU timeout. Following the break, McCann found the back corner with a cross-court shot before Sutton obliterated a kill that deflected deep into the bleachers and pulled the Captains within one at 23-22. Two rallies later, Newsome dropped a tip onto the sideline to keep the deficit at one, but JHU shot back after a timeout to close out a 25-23 triumph.
One set away from a sweep, the Blue Jays rolled out to an early advantage in the third stanza. Despite back-to-back lasers by Sutton and a kill and ace from Newsome, Hopkins stole a 12-8 edge. Refusing to go down without a fight, Miller unloaded two straight kills, McCann smashed one off the chest of a defensive specialist, and Harper uncorked an ace to inch within one at 16-15.
Continuing to face a deficit, the Captains eventually found themselves staring at a 24-22 hole. Stepping up, McCann hammered a kill off the head of a front-row defender to stave off match-point and force Johns Hopkins to burn a timeout while nursing a 24-23 advantage. Following the break, McCann connected on another kill to even the score before Miller earned set-point with a blast off a diving defender.
Uninterested in letting their late-set work go to waste, Newsome capped off the comeback with a sizzling ace to lock up the 26-24 triumph.
Back in the match, the Captains struggled to keep the momentum in the fourth. Finding their groove, the Blue Jays jumped out to a 9-3 lead. Trading blows, McCann sniped a cross-court kill,
Riley Garrison added a tip off the block, and Sutton and Miller teamed up on another rejection to pull within four at 11-7. Unfortunately, Christopher Newport could never overcome its early deficit.
Continuing to battle, Sutton and Miller both abused block attempts, and
Josie Lucernoni came through with a spectacular diving save off a bullet serve, which Garrison converted into a kill. Later, Harper smacked an ace that caught the tape and dripped over into open spaces, and Garrison lined another laser off the side of a blocker, but Hopkins continued to answer and eventually sealed the 25-16 victory.
Along with the senior standouts, Webb finished the contest with 29 assists, six digs, and four kills. Newsome also contributed six kills and three aces, while
Katie Crofford was a perfect 11-for-11 on serve-receive.
---CNU---
