SWARTHMORE, Pa.—Swarthmore College Volleyball won its first two home matches of the season on Saturday, beating Rowan University 3-0 and Arcadia University 3-1.
Swarthmore 3, Rowan 0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-21)
Swarthmore battled the Profs in three tightly contested matches and kept the Profs to a .058 hitting percentage for the match. Swarthmore hit .122 for the match with Sierra Tyson facilitating the offense with 24 assists. Tyson, along with fellow freshman Chloe Mayhue, led the Garnet with seven kills.
Mehra den Braven pitched in six kills, and Isabelle Andrews and Alyssa Nathan each added five. Swarthmore did a good job of absorbing Rowan's attack and had five players with double digit digs: den Braven (16), Sarah Carrasco (16), Mayhue (16), Tyson (14) and Nathan (12).
The Garnet and Profs were even at 21-21 in the first set before Swarthmore pulled away. In the second set, the Garnet darted out to a comfortable 7-1 lead and never looked back. Rowan crept in close at the end of the third set, but kills from Emma Morgan-Bennett and Mayhue closed off the Profs.
Swarthmore 3, Arcadia 1 (25-21, 17-25, 29-27, 27-25)
Swarthmore fended off the Knights in back-and-forth battle. Den Braven and Mayhue led Swarthmore with 16 and 14 kills respectively.
Andrews was a dominant presence at the net as she recorded five blocks. Tyson registered a match-high 26 digs while also dealing out 35 assists.
After taking set one 25-21, the Garnet hit .000 in a losing effort in the second set. Swarthmore bounced back in the third set and fought off set-point three times at the end. A kill by den Braven down the left side sent the Swarthmore team and crowd into a frenzy.
In the fourth set, Arcadia snuck back into the running. Swarthmore held match point, but Arcadia scored seven straight points to make things interesting. Down by one, Swarthmore rallied to score the next three points and claim the match.
The Garnet continue the 2019 Swarthmore Invitational at home on Saturday morning at 11 against SUNY-Cortland.
