ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The Swarthmore College volleyball team (18-4, 7-1 CC) secured a berth in the Centennial Conference playoffs on Wednesday, Oct. 21 after beating the homestanding Muhlenberg Mules (14-9, 4-4 CC) by a 3-1 score.

Swarthmore cannot finish below 7-3 in conference competition and owns head-to-head tiebreakers over Washington College and Franklin & Marshall, two teams that must win out to finish at 7-3 in the Centennial.

The Garnet dropped the first set to the Mules, but responded well in the 22-25, 25-18, 25-14, 25-17 victory. Freshman libero Sarah Girard totaled a match-high 28 digs and outside hitter Sarah Wallace stuffed the stat sheet with 21 kills, eight digs, and four block assists. Sam DuBois recorded her sixth double-double of the year behind 37 assists and 11 digs, while Malia Scott just missed out with nine digs and 10 assists.

Bridget Scott tied for the team lead with four block assists, while Malia Scott, Alice Liu and Olivia Leventhal all had two.

After falling in the first, Swarthmore found itself deadlocked with Muhlenberg at nine apiece in set two before taking five of the next six points to create separation. Shortly after, the Garnet went on a four-point run to pull ahead to 18-11 and put the set out of the Mules' reach.

Swarthmore did not commit an attack an error in the third and recorded 13 kills in 39 attempts for a .333 hitting percentage. Leventhal and Wallace combined for nine kills in the frame and Girard had a solid defensive outing with nine digs. The Garnet improved their hitting percentage to .343 in the fourth and limited the Mules to a .097 clip.

For the match, Swarthmore recorded nine blocks to Muhlenberg's two and outhit them by .245 to .061.

The Garnet face non-conference opponent Stockton on Friday, Oct. 23 in a 5:00 p.m. match hosted by Eastern University. The Ospreys received 29 votes in the most recent AVCA Division III Coaches Poll.