SWARTHMORE, Pa. – The second-seeded Swarthmore College volleyball team earned a thrilling 3-2 victory over third-seeded Franklin and Marshall College in the semifinals of the Centennial Conference Tournament on Friday night in front of a raucous crowd at Tarble Pavilion.
The Garnet advance to the championship match, where they will take on top-seeded Johns Hopkins University on Sunday in Baltimore. The Blue Jays downed fourth-seeded Gettysburg College, 3-0, in the other semifinal. It is Swarthmore's first trip to the Centennial final since 2017.
The Garnet rolled through the opening two sets and looked to be cruising to the win. However, the Diplomats persevered and rallied to win the next two sets in tight fashion to force a decisive fifth frame. Swarthmore was able to recover and pull away midway through the final stanza to hold on for the victory.
Alexia Enache led the Garnet attack with 16 kills and also added nine digs and three service aces.
Isabel Adam totaled 13 kills while
Angelina Heminway and
Keira Miles tallied seven kills apiece.
Emily Sun and
Madeline Mountcastle amassed 23 and 22 assists respectively with Mountcastle also contributing nine digs and four service aces.
Defensively,
Hannah Humphreys tied her career high with six blocks.
Zindzhi Montgomery and Miles each registered five blocks while
Melissa Eyer posted a team-high 17 digs.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- F&M had an early 3-2 lead in the opening set before Swarthmore took over with a 10-3 stretch. Mountcastle had two aces, Enache tallied two kills and an ace, and Miles and Adam each added a kill. The Garnet controlled play for the rest of the set, leading by at least five and by as many as nine on the way to a 25-16 win. Swarthmore held the Diplomats' attack to just a .091 hitting percentage in the frame.
- F&M scored the first point of the second set, but the Garnet answered with four in a row to take the lead. The Diplomats came back to even the score at seven, the first of five ties in the stanza. With the score deadlocked at 15, Swarthmore put together a massive 10-1 run to claim the set 25-16. Adam dropped in a pair of kills,
Aleida Moreno produced two aces, Montgomery and Miles shared a block, Sun registered an ace, and Miles and Enache notched one kill apiece. F&M had just a .040 attack percentage in the set.
- The Garnet got out to a 14-9 advantage and looked to be in control in the third set. The Diplomats got back in it with four straight points to cut the deficit to one (14-13). However, Swarthmore kept the upper hand for the next several points and built the cushion back to four (23-19) late in the frame. Despite this, F&M dug deep and rattled off six consecutive points to stun the Garnet, 25-23, and keep the match going.
- The Diplomats carried the momentum into the start of the fourth set, jumping out to a 7-1 lead. F&M was able to stay in front and increased the margin to eight (18-10) midway through the stanza. However, the Garnet then went off with a 12-1 surge to take a 22-19 edge. Adam led the way with three kills, Enache tallied a kill and an ace, and Heminway produced a kill and a block. On the verge of defeat again, the Diplomats clawed back once more, scoring six of the next seven to pull off another improbable 25-23 triumph and push the match to a fifth set.
- The teams traded the first six points of the final frame before a service error and an Enache kill gave Swarthmore the important two-point cushion at 5-3. With the score 6-5, the Garnet benefitted from two F&M errors and another kill by Enache to up the margin to four (9-5). The Diplomats responded with a 5-2 stretch to close the gap to one (11-10). However, Swarthmore finally put the match away with four points in a row to win 15-10. F&M committed another service error, Eyer posted a kill, Montgomery and Adam shared a block, then Miles won the match with a solo block. The Garnet hit .313 in the final set while limiting the Diplomats to a .150 attack percentage.
GARNET LEADERS
Kills: Enache 16
Assists: Sun 23
Service Aces: Mountcastle 4
Blocks: Humphreys 6
Digs: Eyer 17
UP NEXT
Swarthmore (17-9) will seek its first-ever Centennial title on Sunday at Hopkins.
