Madison, NJ – The John Jay College women's volleyball team competed in a pair of matches on Friday afternoon at the Ferguson Recreation Center, battling Emmanuel College to five sets before closing the tri-match against host FDU-Florham.
The Bloodhounds opened the afternoon with a hard-fought 3-2 setback to Emmanuel before falling to FDU-Florham, 3-0, in the finale. John Jay moves to 1-2 overall on the young season.
Emmanuel 3, John Jay 2
John Jay twice answered after dropping a set against Emmanuel (2-1), forcing a decisive fifth frame before the Saints prevailed, 15-12. Emmanuel won 25-23, 20-25, 25-22, 18-25, and 15-12. John Jay finished with a .155 hitting percentage and held advantages in total points (72-65), service aces (10-6) and blocks (15-9). The Bloodhounds recorded 47 kills, 42 assists and 60 digs.
Emilia Cascapera paced the John Jay attack with a career and team-high 18 kills while hitting .244. She added a career-best four aces and finished with a team-best 22 points.
Madison Mullan delivered a dominant performance at the net, finishing with six kills on .238 hitting while totaling a career-high 10 blocks, including eight solo blocks. She accounted for 16 points.
Ansley Hobson turned in an all-around performance with nine kills, a .269 hitting percentage, 22 assists, three aces, and two blocks.
Kynzie MacInnes added nine kills and nine digs, while
Kaia Mittauer distributed 14 assists and collected 12 digs. Defensively,
Lizbeth Martinez anchored the back row with a match-high-tying 22 digs, matching her career-best set against FDU-Florham a season ago (10/2).
Emmanuel built a 15-11 advantage before John Jay mounted a late rally. Facing set point at 24-20, Cascapera delivered a kill before consecutive Saints attack errors brought the Bloodhounds within 24-23. Emmanuel secured the next point to take the opener.
John Jay responded by building a 14-6 advantage behind contributions from Mullan, Hobson, MacInnes and Mittauer. Emmanuel narrowed the margin, but MacInnes put away the final kill at 24-20 to even the match at 1-1.
John Jay led 8-4 early and held a 21-18 advantage following a Hobson ace. Emmanuel responded with six straight points to move ahead 24-21 before eventually closing out the set.
The Bloodhounds quickly established a 7-3 advantage and stretched the margin to 15-8 following a Cascapera kill. John Jay never relinquished the lead and closed the frame with consecutive points to force a fifth set.
Emmanuel jumped ahead 5-1 before John Jay battled back. Consecutive Hobson kills cut the deficit to 7-5, and the Bloodhounds eventually tied the frame at 12-12 on a Cascapera kill. Emmanuel scored the final three points to secure the match.
Emmanuel was led offensively by Letitia Bossou, who finished with 18 kills, while Kason Huynh recorded 27 assists and Sofia Petrucci collected 22 digs.
FDU-Florham 3, John Jay 0
John Jay closed the afternoon with a 3-0 setback to host FDU-Florham, falling by scores of 25-19, 25-21 and 25-20.
Cascapera paced the Bloodhound attack with a match-high 15 kills while adding seven digs and two service aces. Mullan turned in an efficient performance, registering nine kills on 19 swings with just two attack errors for a .368 hitting percentage. She also led the defensive effort at the net with five total blocks and added a service ace.
MacInnes added eight kills while hitting .217 and contributed seven digs. Hobson handed out a team-high 15 assists to go along with seven digs and two blocks, while Mittauer added 10 assists. Martinez anchored the back row with a match-high 16 digs.
The Devils opened with the first three points and built a 12-6 advantage. John Jay cut the deficit to 12-9 behind Cascapera and MacInnes, but FDU-Florham answered and maintained control to take the opener.
In the second set, John Jay opened with a Hobson ace and built a 5-2 advantage. After FDU-Florham moved ahead, the Bloodhounds battled back to within 19-18 behind kills from MacInnes and Mullan. Cascapera later made it 22-20, but the Devils secured three of the final four points.
After falling behind 5-0, John Jay rallied to tie the set at 9-9 and eventually built a 16-11 advantage behind MacInnes and Mullan. The Bloodhounds still led 19-16 following a Cascapera kill before FDU-Florham scored nine of the final 10 points to complete the sweep.
FDU-Florham was led offensively by Mackenzie Crandall and Hannah Weinman, who finished with eight kills apiece. Amaya Ocasio directed the Devils' offense with 30 assists, while Arianna Wood finished with 16 digs.
The Bloodhounds will head back on the road September 11 and 12th, as they are slated to participate in the Buttermaker Tournament, hosted by Muhlenberg. John Jay will open things up against Rutgers-Cadmen on Friday at 4:00 p.m. before taking on the host at 6:00 p.m.
Matches resume on Saturday as the Bloodhounds will square off against Hood at 10:00 a.m. before concluding the tournament against SUNY Morrisville at noon.
