HAVERFORD, Pa. – The No. 25-ranked Haverford College volleyball team fended off a late comeback by Swarthmore College for a 3-1 (25-18, 25-7, 22-25, 25-21) victory in the Centennial Conference semifinals Saturday afternoon at Gooding Arena. Haverford advances to its fourth consecutive championship match and now has a chance to become just the third four-peat in Centennial history.
Haverford (29-3) outmatched the Garnet in kills (62-50) while hitting .318. The Fords totaled 78 digs and had five players in double-figures.
Kelsey Cantwell led all players with 20 kills and a scolding .486 hitting percentage. She also amassed 15 digs for a double-double. Rebecca and Rachel Salvo both registered double-doubles as well. Rebecca had 11 kills and 12 digs while Rachel recorded 12 and 15. Caitlyn Tranquillo had a team-high 16 digs and Kate Comey handed out 52 assists.
Genny Pezzola was one of three Swarthmore (19-10) players to reach double-digits with 16 kills. She also had a match-high 19 digs. Kathryn Montemurro added 12 kills and Johanna Bond had 11. Kearney Bangs (26) and Allison Coleman (20) combined for 46 assists on the day.
The Scarlet and Black held a 21-20 lead late in the third set, but three Garnet kills and two Haverford attack errors gave Swarthmore a 24-21 advantage. Swarthmore committed an attack error, but Montemurro connected on a kill to send the match to a fourth set.
Haverford had the fourth set in hand with an eight-point lead, but the Garnet had one more run left in them. Consecutive kills by Pezzola and a service ace brought Swarthmore within five (20-15). The two teams exchanged the next four points then a kill by Hillary Santana, a Fords attack error and a kill by Bond made the score 22-20. Haverford claimed the next two points and closed things out on a Cantwell kill.
Sunday's final will pit the Fords versus Gettysburg College in a rematch of last year's final. The Bullets defeated Franklin & Marshall College, 3-1, in Saturday's other semifinal. The championship match will get underway at 1 p.m.