MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The unbeaten run to open the 2025 season for the No. 22 ranked Wesleyan volleyball team came to an end on Friday night in a four-set loss to No. 6 Johns Hopkins in Silloway Gymnasium. The Cardinals (8-1) held their own against the Blue Jays (11-2) in a close contest with the set scores being 22-25, 25-27, 25-19, 21-25.
 
A back-and-forth first set saw four lead changes and 11 ties before a 4-0 Johns Hopkins run at the tail end of the set proved enough for a 25-22 win. Wesleyan was in control, holding an 8-4 lead and later a 16-12 advantage on the visitors before Johns Hopkins won seven unanswered points to take a 19-16 lead. The Cardinals answered right back being Fiona LaCamera '27 who combined with Paulina Marino-Bindi '27 on a block before registering a kill on a go-ahead point. Wesleyan led 22-21 but Hopkins used a 4-0 set-winning run to win 25-22.
 
The second set was nearly a mirror image of the first set as the Cardinals dominated in the early going, winning seven of the first eight points and later holding a 11-4 lead. Wesleyan held off the Blue Jays, leading by at least two points up until the late stages when Hopkins tied the score at 20-20. Wesleyan then won three straight points and had two set points, but both were staved off by the Blue Jays. Hopkins used a 3-0 run to take their first lead of the set at 25-24 before ultimately closing out a 27-25 second set win.
 
For the third straight set, Wesleyan held a sizeable lead in the early going, as this time the Cardinals won seven unanswered points to lead 8-2. The Cardinals added to their advantage, holding an eight-point lead and later a 20-12 advantage. Hopkins would only get to within five points of the Cardinals who closed out a 25-19 third set win.
 
Hopkins turned things around in the fourth set as this time it was the Blue Jays who controlled play in the early stages. First leading 5-1, Hopkins won six straight points to hold a 11-2 lead. The Cardinals found some life with four unanswered points to close the gap and would get to within three points of the Blue Jays in the late stages, but couldn't find a late run as Simone Adam slammed home the match-winning kill in a 25-21 fourth set triumph.
 
Wesleyan gave the Blue Jays all they could handle despite seeing Hopkins finish the match with a +30 advantage in kills (70-40). The Cardinals made up for the disparity in kills with a 7-2 lead in service aces and 19-11 advantage in blocks as the Blue Jays had twice as many attack errors compared to Wesleyan (36-18).
 
LaCamera was stellar at the net all night, finishing with 13 total blocks which is just one shy of her single-game team record of 14. Siena Steines '28 went for a team-high eight kills, eight digs, and six total blocks while India Clark '28 finished with six kills, four blocks, and two digs. Mila Chan '28 had six kills on just nine swings, hitting .556 for the match. Katelyn Olin '27 had four kills with no errors on nine swings with four total blocks and two digs.
 
The reigning NESCAC Player of the Week Elliana Moreno '27 had 19 digs while Adrienne Nguyen '28 finished with 11 digs in just two sets played. Ali Landa '26 totaled 20 assists and five digs while Alexa Schnell '29 tallied 12 assists and seven digs.
 
Helena Swaak finished with a triple-double for the Blue Jays as she recorded 13 kills, 27 assists, and 18 digs. Simone Adam totaled a match-high 20 kills, hitting .292 on 48 attempts. Celine Ebert had 13 kills, five digs, and three blocks. Annika Anderson had a double-double with 28 assists and 12 digs while Nicole Tuszynski finished with 23 digs and six assists.
 
Wesleyan is back at home on Saturday at 5 PM with a non-conference match against Endicott.