The Muhlenberg volleyball team nearly pushed the visiting Johns Hopkins Blue Jays to a fifth set, but fell just short of having a chance at the reverse sweep.
The Mules came alive in the third set. They fell behind early in the first two games, but that was not to be in the third, as the hosts went blow-for-blow with the playoff-bound Blue Jays before going on a 4-0 run to nab a 13-10 lead. That run was spearheaded by
Andrea Romero-Agosto, who notched three straight kills before teaming up with
Ansley Asche on a combination block to finish off the run.
The visitors rallied to bring the match even once more a few points later. With the score 19-17 in favor of the Blue Jays, the Mules embarked on a blistering 8-2 stretch to win the set, much to the raucous Senior Day crowd's delight. While it was a team effort,
Maddy Budris was especially key; she notched one of her four service aces on a serve that hit the net and trickled in as part of that stretch. Most of the blitz came because of Muhlenberg's defense, as they withstood the ferocious Hopkins attacks and forced the visitors into making mistakes.
The Mules sent the fourth set into overtime, but ended up falling 26-24.
Abigail Oswari led the way for the Mules with 14 kills, while Romero-Agosto joined her in double figures with 10. The sophomore middle also had three block assists and finished with a hitting percentage of .391.
Before the match, Muhlenberg honored its three seniors:
Jenny Ryan,
Kelliann Keogh, and
Chloe Gaglione. Gaglione led the Mules with 14 digs, while Ryan had a team-high 19 assists. Keogh finished with six kills and a pair of block assists.
