Mahwah, N.J. - The John Jay women's volleyball team traveled across the Hudson River on Thursday evening for its toughest test so far this season as the Bloodhounds took on Ramapo.
Thursday's contest marks the Bloodhounds' first trip to the Bradley Center since 2013.
After dropping the team's first set in five matches, John Jay dug in to tie the match with a 25-18 second set win. Despite winning a set by the largest margin of the match, the Bloodhounds dropped the road test, 1-3.
In the opening set, the visitors seemed to have an answer for every Ramapo run. Down four points late in the first, Josanne Lewis dialed up a pair of back-to-back kills and libero Kristin Gretener pulled the Bloodhounds within one with her first ace of the match. John Jay's eight attacking errors would catch up to the team late, with the Roadrunners taking six of the next seven points.
Ramapo jumped out to early lead in the next frame, but the Bloodhounds were able to take advantage of Ramapo errors to score four straight points and take their first set lead of the night, 15-12.
Aniko Ouwendjik dialed up three straight kills a few points later to help ice the second set win, 25-18. John Jay's .250 hitting percentage in that frame was its highest of the match.
Despite an early lead, the Ramapo attack served too strong for the Bloodhound blockers. The Roadrunners attacked dialed up two five-point streaks to establish a 14-9 lead.
John Jay used 12 kills, its second most in any set Thursday night, to work back and tie the match at 16-all but the inconsistent attack caught up. The Bloodhounds went on to drop the final set, 19-25.
Lewis led all players with 13 kills and three service aces on the night. Meghan Smith made it two straight outings with 30+ assists, leading both teams on Thursday with 31 total.
NEXT UP: John Jay returns to The Doghouse on Saturday to host a tri-match with Bay Path (11:00 a.m.) and Sarah Lawrence (3:00 p.m.), with the two visiting teams playing in between. All matches will air live on the John Jay Athletics website.
