BALTIMORE—The Swarthmore College volleyball team advanced to the Centennial Conference final for the second time in program history with a well-earned, 25-23, 25-22, 25-19 win over the third-seeded Haverford Fords on Saturday, Nov. 5.
The Garnet closed out the match with an emphatic block by
Bridget Scott and
Emma Morgan-Bennett to avenge last week's narrow five-set defeat at the hand of the rival Fords.
Mehra den Braven paced the Swarthmore attack, which finished with a .291 hitting percentage, with 15 kills as
Sarah Wallace chipped in 10 against no errors.
Sarah Girard led the team with 12 digs and
Malia Scott recorded a double-double behind 16 assists and 10 digs.
The back-and-forth first set featured 13 ties and five lead changes. Swarthmore established control with a 21-17 lead late in the set before the Fords used a four-point run to even the game and force a timeout. Haverford later led at 23-22, but an attack error and kills from
Malia Scott and
Olivia Leventhal secured the first frame for the Garnet.
In the second set, Wallace recorded six kills in only nine attempts and the team hit .265 overall. Both sides traded runs before Swarthmore took four straight to go ahead 22-19. Although Haverford chipped away and reduced its deficit to one at 22-23, a Girard service ace moved the Garnet one set away from an appearance in the finals.
Swarthmore saved its best for the last, hitting .371 in the third with 16 kills and three errors. Den Braven and Leventhal each swung five kills to one error and Girard recorded five digs for the defense. Swarthmore broke the set open with four consecutive points on
Guin Mesh's serve and positioned themselves two points away from a finals berth. The Fords got a point back before Swarthmore shut the door for good and vanquished its rivals in straight sets.
The Garnet will face host Johns Hopkins on Sunday, Nov. 6 at 1 p.m. for the conference crown and an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
