SWARTHMORE, Pa. - The Swarthmore College volleyball team defended its unbeaten conference record with a 3-1 victory over Muhlenberg College on Wednesday night. The Garnet have won their previous five meetings with the Mules.

Isabel Adam tallied a career-high 21 kills with an outstanding .515 hitting percentage to pace the Garnet. Angelina Heminway also enjoyed double-digit kills with 13, while Madeline Mountcastle contributed 28 assists. 

Melissa Eyer had a game-high 18 digs to lead the defense, while Hannah Humphreys was a force at the net with four blocks. 

Tonight, the Garnet held their first Lupus Awareness Game. Lupus is an autoimmune disease that affects over 1.5 million Americans and directly impacts one of our current athletes, Zindzhi Montgomery. The team partnered with Make Your Mark! for Lupus Foundation of America, a community fundraising program that gives everyone the opportunity to support the fight against lupus. As of today, the Garnet have raised over $4,700 in efforts to raise awareness and support research for finding better treatments and a cure. If interested, you can contribute to the program's campaign here. 

SWARTHMORE 3, MUHLENBERG 1
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Garnet led the entire opening set after racing out to a 3-0 lead. Swarthmore continued to build on its advantage with consecutive kills from Kiera Miles and Alexia Enache, 11-4. They maintained their distance against the Mules before clinching the set on an Enache service ace, 25-17. 

- Midway through the second set, Muhlenberg used a 6-1 run to jump out in front of the Garnet. Swarthmore regained momentum with a Heminway kill and a Mules attack error, but lost steam with four-straight Muhlenberg points, 19-10. Swarthmore came as close as seven points of the Mules, but couldn't dig themselves out of an early hole, 25-17. 

- Swarthmore put a difficult second set behind them with a 7-3 rally to open the third set. Hemingway started off the stanza with a kill, while Enache added back-to-back aces. Muhlenberg eventually battled back to tie the game at 14-14, before Swarthmore answered with three-straight points. The Mules came within one point of the Garnet several times, but were unable to regain the lead. Adam eventually sealed the set with a clinching kill, 25-22. 

- Muhlenberg looked to bounce back with a 10-6 run to start the fourth set. The Garnet then pulled within a point after kills from Miles, Enache and back-to-back strikes from Heminway. Later in the set, Swarthmore battled for the lead with three-straight points. Enache tied things up with a kill, before the Garnet overtook Muhlenberg on a ball handling error, 21-20. Swarthmore clinched the match on three-straight kills from Adam, 25-23. 



GARNET LEADERS
Kills: Adam 21
Aces: Enache 3
Blocks: Humphreys 4
Assists: Mountcastle 28
Digs: Eyer 18

UP NEXT
The Garnet (14-6, 6-0) travel to Eastern University on Friday.