NCAA Division III Volleyball Tournament, 1st Round
Cabrini University Cavaliers (14-17, 6-0 Atlantic East) vs. #1 Johns Hopkins University Blue Jays (29-0, 10-0 Centennial)
Friday, Nov. 12, 8pm
Goldfarb Gymnasium, Baltimore, MD

Game Day Links: Live Stats, Webcast, Digital Program
View NCAA Div. III Volleyball Tournament Interactive Bracket
View NCAA Div. III Volleyball Tournament Digital Program
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Tickets
Admission for a single day session is $6 for adults, $4 for senior citizens and students with ID and $3 for children ages 3-12. Children two and under with an adult will be free.

All-session ticket which will provide admission to matches on all three days will be $12 for adults, $10 for senior citizens and students with ID and #7 for children ages 3-12.

Mask Policy
Per CDC guidelines, spectators are required to wear masks, regardless of vaccination status. Fans are required to social distance themselves from other groups.

What's At Stake?
The winner of Friday night's match will advance to Saturday's Regional Semifinal to face Rowan University or Springfield College, who will also meet in Friday's opening round.  

Friday also marks the first time the Cavaliers and Blue Jays have meet since JHU scored a 3-1 win over Cabrini on Sept. 6, 2013.  Danielle Carrozza ('14) led the Blue and White with 17 kills and 25 digs, while Cassidy Koenig ('16) added 33 assists. Current assistant coach Sophia Sokolovich ('14) notched 17 digs in the 14-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-18 loss.

JHU will play host to two other first round match-ups on Friday, as Tufts and Eastern will meet at 12:30pm, followed by SUNY Cortland and Merchant Marine at 3pm. Those winners will meet at 2:30pm on Saturday in the day's first match, with both of Saturday's victors to meet in Sunday's Regional Final for the right to appear in the national quarterfinal next weekend in St. Louis.  

How Cabrini Got Here
The Cavaliers returned to the NCAA Tournament via the automatic bid as champion of the Atlantic East Conference. Cabrini captured its first Atlantic East crown and ninth conference championship with Saturday's 3-1 (25-22, 25-23, 21-25, 25-21) win over Marymount.

Senior Hannah Dalton was named Championship Most Valuable Player after pairing 15 kills and 17 digs for her 17th double-double of the season.

Freshman Makenzie Griffith added a career high 12 digs, while junior Allison Clarke and freshman Sam Heenan added seven kills each.

Senior Lexi Conte recorded a career best 30 assists, while classmate Gina Custer notched 19 digs.

Scouting the Cavaliers
The Cavaliers got off to a slow start, winning just two of its first 11 matches. Cabrini fell to 7-15 before closing the season with a 7-2 run, including the 2021 Atlantic East Championship. During that stretch, the Blue and White dropped just 11 sets.

Led by Dalton, Custer and Conte, the Blue and White led the Atlantic East in kills, assists and digs, while ranking second in hitting percentage and total blocks.

Dalton has posted one of the most impressive campaigns in program history. The senior leads the nation with 496 kills, while her 1,376 attack rank second. She also lists in the top 10 in Division III with 558.5 points (4th), 4.43 kills per set (6th), 12.29 attack per set (8th) and 4.99 points per set (9th).

Custer's 661 digs set a program record and ranks second in the country, while her 5.75 digs per set rank 10th. The senior, who led the Atlantic East by nearly 200 digs, also ranked 15th in the league with 32 digs, was at her best against top competition. In Cabrini's 12 matches against AVCA regionally-ranked opponents, Custer recorded 258 digs, an average of more than 21 digs per match.

Conte has directed the Blue and White to the tune of a team high 559 assists. The senior has recorded north of 20 assists on 12 occasions and has averaged 24 assists per match during Cabrini's five match win streak, including a career best 30 dimes in the Atlantic East championship.

How Johns Hopkins Got Here
The Blue Jays claimed the Centennial Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament after downing Haverford 3-0 (25-10, 25-16, 25-15) to win their fifth consecutive conference crown.

JHU cruised to victory after pairing 48 kills and just 11 attack errors, posting an astounding .411 on the day, including .538 in the opening set.

Graduate student Simone Bliss was named Tournament Most Valuable Player after collecting 11 kills on just 18 swings over two sets. Sophomore Danielle Norman added a double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs.

Senior Natalie Ashton collected 36 assists, while classmate Sarah Khan scored match high honors with 11 digs.

Scouting the Blue Jays
After a second round exit in the 2018 NCAA Tournament, the Blue Jays burst onto the scene in 2019. JHU dropped just eight sets all season, en route to its first NCAA women's volleyball title and a perfect 35-0 record.  

After missing the 2020 season due to COVID, the Blue Jays picked up where they left off. The have extended their NCAA Division III record win streak to 64 matches and bring a perfect 29-0 mark into Friday's action.

Much of JHU's success is derived right at the net, where its .267 hitting percentage ranks seventh in the country, while its opponents' hitting percentage of .097 is good for 21st.

Six Blue Jays have recorded north of 100 kills on the season, led by Norman's 209, four more than graduate student Sydney Portale.

Ashton, a 6-2 setter and middle blocker, provides an interesting double for the Blue Jays, as the 2019 and 2021 Centennial Conference Player of the Year leads the team with 910 assists, 57 service aces and 79 blocks, while her 185 digs are good for third.   

Ashton is just one of four Blue Jays to record north of 40 total blocks on the season, as senior Eleni Pagagopolous (62), senior Lauren Anthony (58) and Portale (41) also rank among the Centennial Conference leaders.