Jersey City, NJ - The 2024 campaign for the John Jay women's volleyball team kicked off on a high note Friday afternoon. 

The Bloodhounds scored a clean sweep over two matches at the New Jersey City University (NJCU) Tri-Match to open the season, defeating the host Gothic Knights and the University of Mount Saint Vincent (UMSV) Dolphins in straight sets. 

This pair of victories marks the second time in the past three seasons that John Jay has opened the season with a pair of wins.
 

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Returning CUNYAC Player of the Year Josanne Lewis and newcomer Julia Stuart combined for a team-leading 35 kills on the day.

John Jay 3 | NJCU 0

Lewis started the season in form, scoring a pair of kills in the opening stretch to give the visiting Bloodhounds a 5-1 lead.

The visitors cemented their lead when Stuart scored her first three collegiate service aces in a span of four points, giving her side a 12-4 advantage.  That pair struck again late in the set with a trio of kills to help give the Bloodhounds a 25-14 win in the first set. 

John Jay never trailed in the second set, as Stuart pushed her team out a 7-2 lead thanks in part to another pair of aces in the first three points.  Stuart later bookended a five-point swing for the Bloodhounds that improved their advantage to 15-9. 

After Madison Reyes took the feed from Meghan Smith to get the Bloodhounds to 21 points in the second set, the Gothic Knights did not serve again. Lewis and Paige Sadowitz scored on back-to-back swings, and an ace by libero Kristin Gretener iced the second frame for John Jay for a 25-16 win.

Head coach Austin Voges brought out a modified lineup for the third set, starting Reilly Catan, Sadowitz, Gretener, the returning Hailey Waugaman, newcomer Theresa Schmitt and Malia Reyes. The third set played much closer than the first two, with the new-look group finally taking the lead midway through the final frame. Schmitt earned her first kill of the third set to kick off a 4-0 run that gave John Jay a 16-15 lead.

Neither team took an advantage greater than two points for the remainder of the set, with NJCU taking a late 24-23 lead thanks to several Bloodhound errors. Lewis and Stuart righted the ship for John Jay with their play at the net, logging three kills in the final five points to ink a 27-25 win in the match's decisive set.

Stuart finished the match with 13 kills on .200 hitting, adding five aces and nine digs. Lewis finished the opener with 11 kills. Smith logged 29 assists in the first match of the year, adding nine digs.

John Jay 3 | UMSV 0

The Bloodhounds took a short rest before returning to the court for back-to-back contests.  John Jay limited the UMSV Dolphins to a -.023 hitting percentage in the three-set win, marking three straight wins against UMSV.

Lewis led the way to kick off the opening frame, scoring three kills to give the Bloodhounds a 4-1 lead. Catan later gave the Bloodhounds the lead again, capitalizing on a trio of Dolphin errors and a pair of kills of her own to give her team a 10-6 lead.  

Transfer addition Nina Bongiovanni scored her first kill as a Bloodhound in a six-point run that pushed the visitors' lead to 16-8.Bongiovanni sandwiched a Lewis ace with two more kills in the final three points to secure a 25-15 opening-set victory. 

The Bloodhounds never trailed in the second set, slowing compounding their advantage throughout the frame, capitalizing on six errors by the Dolphin attack. Their biggest run came at the conclusion of the set, taking four straight points, then Reyes and rookie Alex Overkamp each scored a kill to clinch a 25-17 win with a sweep on the horizon.

The leaders moved quickly into double digits in the third set as they looked to secure a three-set victory. Gretener scored repeat aces, and combined with kills by Stuart, Sadowitz, and Lewis, pushed the score to 12-5.

John Jay's attack struck again as four different hitters (Sadowitz, Stuart, Schmitt, Waugaman) scored in succession later in the match to extend the Bloodhound advantage. Stuart's final two aces of the game iced the victory for John Jay, finishing out the third set with a 25-15 win.

Lewis was a leader once again for the Bloodhounds' attack, finishing with eight kills and nine digs.  Smith finished with just one bad set, assisting on 32 successful swings.

NEXT UP: The Bloodhounds return to The Doghouse for the home opener, on Thursday, Sept. 5 at 7:00 p.m.
 

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