HAVERFORD, Pa. - Sophomores Keri Godbe, Meg O'Day and Nina Mutty combined for 52 kills but the Haverford College volleyball team fell 3-2 to visiting Susquehanna University in a tightly-contested match on Sunday morning at Gooding Arena. Later in the final day of the Haverford Invitational, the Fords gave Eastern University, ranked 16th in the American Volleyball Coaches Association preseason poll, all it could handle but came up short to the Eages by a 3-1 score.
Susquehanna (3-1) moved ahead 2-1 (25-20, 23-25, 25-20) in the match before Haverford stormed back to win set four (25-22) and force a deciding fifth set. The final set was again a battle with six ties before the Crusaders hung on for the narrow 15-13 victory.
The Fords (2-2) received contributions from throughout the roster in the opener as Godbe tallied 19 kills and 16 digs. O'Day also loomed large at the net with 18 kills and three blocks while Mutty chipped in with 15 kills and 17 digs. Freshman Abby Keller registered 39 assists over the five-set marathon.
Junior Sarah Brody established a new career high in digs for the second time in as many days with 25. Classmate Madison Fuelling helped the defensive cause with 23 digs.
Jessica Holm led Susquehanna, picked to finish second in the Landmark this season, with 21 kills while Maggie O'Hearn took match-high honors with 46 assists.
Haverford faced a challenge in its final tournament contest as it squared off with the nationally-ranked Eagles (4-0). After Eastern took the first set, the Fords battled back to knot the score but the experienced Eagles, a perennial NCAA contender, managed to close out the match in four (25-14, 20-25, 25-20, 25-17) and claim the tournament title.
Godbe added 11 more kills to finish with 30 on the day. Brody once again spearheaded the effort on defense with 19 digs while Mutty and Godbe also reached double figures with 16 and 11, respectively.
Kearby Benak paced Eastern with a match-high 16 kills and Erin Hillman contributed 10 more.
Joining Godbe on the all-tournament team were Katrina Pisch and Benak of Eastern, Erin Byrne and O'Hearn from Susquehanna and Widener's Kaitlin Schnalzer. Eastern's Rylia Haas was named the tournament MVP.
The Fords travel to Selinsgrove, Pa., on Saturday, Sept. 7 to take on Dickinson College at 11 a.m. and Lycoming College at 3 p.m. as part of Susquehanna's two-day Crusader Classic.