NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The Haverford College volleyball team defeated the SUNY New Paltz Hawks 3-0 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday afternoon at the Freeman Center on the campus of Christopher Newport.
With the score tied at seven, the Fords scored five consecutive points to take a 12-7 advantage early in the first set. Their lead did not stick as the Hawks scored seven of the next nine points, making the score 15-14. The two teams exchanged leads before Haverford jumped in front 22-19. SUNY New Paltz cut the deficit to one, 22-21, but kills by junior Keri Godbe, sophomore Valentine Courouble and an attack error gave the Fords a 25-21 victory in set one.
Haverford was the first team to separate itself in set two as it connected on seven straight points to take a 14-8 lead. The Fords called timeout after their lead was reduced to two (15-13). Head coach Michele Benoit's team responded with four straight points, which quickly led to a SUNY-New Paltz timeout. The Hawks only managed two points the rest of the set as the Fords took a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-15 win.
With the Hawks in front 14-11 in set three, the Fords tallied eight of the next 10 points, giving them a 19-16 lead. SUNY New Paltz got within one at 24-23, leading to a Haverford timeout. Out of the timeout, the Centennial Conference Player of the Year, Meg O'Day, registered her 11th kill of the match, sending the Fords to the regional semifinals of the NCAA Tournament with a 25-23 set three victory.
It's the first win for the Fords in the NCAA Tournament since they defeated Richard Stockton during the 2009 campaign.
O'Day led the Fords with 11 kills. Freshman Zoe Wong finished with 13 assists, eight digs, four service aces and three kills while junior Jeanna Kenney had a team-high 20 digs in the win. Becca Borquist led the Hawks with 13 kills in the loss. Haverford saw its attack percentage gradually improve over the match, jumping from .171 in the first set to .268 in the third.
With the win, the Fords improve to 22-9 on the season while the Hawks fall to 31-6. Haverford will now play No. 13 Eastern University in tomorrow's Newsport News Regional semifinal beginning at 3:30 p.m. The Fords upset the then-No. 14 Eagles (30-5) by a 3-2 score back in late September. Since that time, Eastern has run off 15 straight victories.