Box Score SWARTHMORE, Pa. – The fight for first place was far from easy, as the Swarthmore College volleyball team battled back from a 2-0 deficit before Haverford College came away with the victory in the fifth set to secure Centennial Conference hosting rights in next week's playoffs.
Swarthmore (22-6, 9-1 CC) will enter the postseason tournament as the No. 2 see and will face No. 3 Muhlenberg next Saturday at Haverford (21-8, 9-1 CC). The Fords will face the winner of the first round match between Franklin & Marshall and Johns Hopkins.
The five-setter saw 35 tied scores and 17 total lead changes as both teams fought for each point. The Fords took the first two sets by identical scores of 25-23 before the Garnet battled to a 25-21 third set win followed by a 28-26 fourth set win to force the deciding frame. Haverford took momentum into the final set, 15-7, to earn the win.
Senior middle blocker
Chastity Hopkins, playing in her final regular season match at Tarble Pavilion, recorded a career-high 21 kills and earned two blocks. Senior defensive specialist
Kate Amodei finished with 11 digs on the day. Prior to the match, Hopkins, Amodei and team manager Adrian Wan were honored for their contributions to the volleyball program the past four seasons.
The Garnet had five players reach double-digit digs with junior libero
Madison Heppe leading the defense with 21, while junior setter
Sam DuBois recorded 17 and freshman
Malia Scott earned 16 digs. The duo set the offense with a combined 55 assists as both finished the match with double-doubles.
At the net, freshman
Alice Liu came down with four blocks, while four other teammates had two. The attack saw double-digit swings from freshmen
Sarah Wallace (20) and
Bridget Scott (10). Wallace recorded 13 kills in the two-set comeback by the Garnet.
Haverford built a 10-4 first set lead on four kills from Keri Godbe, who finished with 24 in the match. With a balanced attack and a series of Ford miscues, Swarthmore tied the set at 12-all. For the remainder of the set neither team could score more than three consecutive points; Meg O'Day's five swing of the frame set the score, 25-23.
Down 7-4, the Garnet went on two scoring runs – again led on a balanced attack – to take a 12-8 lead before Haverford called a timeout. The Fords returned from the break with a four-point swing to knot the score at 12 as the attack rattled Swarthmore's defense. On Wallace's service, the Garnet went ahead 22-18 as Hopkins record three kills, but the Fords responded quickly to close out the set on a 7-1 run led by Godbe with four kills.
The third set began in Haverford's favor as the Fords built a 10-5 early lead before Swarthmore took a timeout. From the break, the Garnet slowly crawled back into the match, but didn't gain strong momentum until a service from
Malia Scott. The freshman fueled a six-point run for the home team, taking an 18-17 lead. Haverford took the lead once more before a service from DuBois closed out the set, 25-21.
A 7-2 run led by Scott's service put Swarthmore ahead 12-10 in the fourth set, before the Fords went on its own 8-1 run for a 18-13 lead. Wallace recorded seven kills in the set to the lead the Garnet offense, while Scott recorded another strong service for a 23-21 lead. The teams battled for the final points, taking the set to extra frames, 28-26. Swarthmore tallied the final three points with kills from Hopkins and
Bridget Scott to force the deciding set.
Godbe and O'Day led Haverford as the duo combined for 47 kills and 24 digs. Nina Mutty anchored the defense with 25 digs and Olivia Walsh set the offense with 31 assists. Valentine Courouble had a match-high seven blocks.
