HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College volleyball team split a pair of five-set matches in day two of the Haverford Invitational. The Fords fell to the Stevenson Mustangs and defeated the Susquehanna Crusaders to finish the tournament with a 3-1 record.
Haverford, Stevenson and Susquehanna finished in a tie for first place with the Crusaders being awarded the championship based on tie-breakers.
In the Fords' first match of the day vs. Stevenson, their comeback bid fell just short as they won the third and fourth set before falling in the fifth stanza.
After Stevenson took the first set 27-25 and the second set 25-18, the Fords scored eight of the final 11 points in set three to score a 25-22 decision. In set four, Haverford scored the final three points in to grab a 25-23 victory.
Stevenson scored 12 of the final 14 points in the fifth set to take the match.
Junior Meg O'Day paced the Fords with 15 kills and a .400 attack percentage while junior Keri Godbe also pitched in 14 kills. Junior Olivia Walsh led Haverford with 17 assists and freshman Zoe Wong had 15 assists in the loss.
Haverford rebounded after a tough loss with a thrilling victory over the tournament champion Susquehanna. The Crusaders had only dropped two sets in their previous three matches before squaring up with the Fords.
With Susquehanna leading 1-0 in the match after a 25-23 win, the Fords scored 17 consecutive points in the second set to jump to a 22-6 lead in set two. The Crusaders made it interesting by cutting the deficit to 22-17, but Haverford held on for a 25-18 victory.
The Fords came back with a convincing 25-15 triumph in set four to send the match to a decisive fifth set after Susquehanna had won the third set 25-13.
The Crusaders scored five of the first six points in the deciding stanza before the Fords rallied to take a 10-7 lead. Susquehanna tied the game three more times before the home team ended the match with a 15-13 victory.
Walsh tallied 21 assists and Wong had 15 assists in the five-set win. O'Day had a .306 attack percentage and 15 kills. It's the 14th consecutive match in which O'Day has had at least ten kills dating back to last season. Godbe finished with a team-high 19 kills in the victory.
O'Day was named to the Haverford Invitational All-Tournament team after finishing with 52 kills and a .336 attack percentage in four games. Junior Jeanna Kenney had 56 digs over the two days of action and was also named to the all-tournament team. MaryKate Sherkness and Maggie O'Hearn of Susquehanna along with Stevenson's Sammi Perillo and Annika Schwartz were also named to the all-tournament team.
Head coach Michele Benoit was happy to see how the Fords scored a victory over Susquehanna after a tough loss to Stevenson. "It was a complete team effort to come up with a victory over a very good Susquehanna team," said the fourth-year head coach.
Haverford will get back on the court with a tri-match with Richard Stockton College and SUNY Cortland next Saturday (Sept. 6) before the Neumann Knights Invitational (Sept. 12-13).