HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College volleyball team (8-3, 1-0 CC) swept the Dickinson College Red Devils (4-9, 0-1 CC), 3-0 (25-12, 25-9, 25-13) and then lost a non-conference thriller to the Messiah Falcons (11-0), 3-2 (25-27, 25-22, 25-21, 20-25, 18-16) at the Gooding '84 Arena on Saturday afternoon.
A closely contested first set between the two Centennial Conference schools saw the Fords gain some separation and take a 14-8 lead. After Dickinson called timeout, the Fords did not relent as they ran off 11 of the final 15 points to claim the opening set.
Haverford scored five of the first six points and maintained a 14-7 advantage in set two, leading to a Dickinson timeout. The road team only scored twice after the timeout as the Fords cruised to a 25-9 set victory. Set three began with Haverford taking a slight 6-5 lead, before a 9-1 sprint gave the Fords a nine-point lead. Dickinson got within six at 17-11, but Haverford ended the set on an 8-2 run to take the set 25-13 and sweep the match.
Reigning Centennial Conference Player of the Year, senior Meg O'Day, registered her sixth straight outing of at least a .400 attack percentage (.750) after posting 10 kills on 12 attempts. Senior Keri Godbe led team with 16 kills while enjoying a .344 attack percentage in the win.
After a break between the first and third contests of the tri-match, Haverford and Messiah found themselves locked at 10-all in the opening set. The Fords took the lead over Messiah by scoring five of the next six points (15-11). The Falcons came roaring back with seven consecutive points to take an 18-15 advantage, forcing a Haverford timeout. Messiah continued its offensive burst with three straight points, making head coach Michele Benoit call her final timeout of the set. This time, the Fords rallied, tying the match at 24-all. The two teams exchanged points before a service ace from junior Valentine Courouble and kill by O'Day gave the home squad a 27-25 win.
The Fords went ahead in set two, tallying 14 of the first 21 points. Messiah pushed forward, eventually going in front 21-20 on the heels of a 7-0 outburst. With the two teams even at 22, three consecutive kills by the Falcons gave the road team a 25-22 win and tied the match at one.
Set three saw no team lead by more than four points at any time. After 10 lead changes, 10 ties and the score matched up at 17-all, the Falcons scurried in front, 20-17, with two kills and a Fords' error. Messiah kept Haverford at bay, taking a 2-1 set lead by scoring three of the final four tallies. Another evenly played set saw neither side with a lead of more than two points until a kill by Courouble gave the Fords a 22-19 lead in the fourth stanza. An attack error pushed the Haverford lead to four before a Godbe kill sent the match to a deciding fifth set.
Back-to-back kills by Messiah's Jane Underman gave the visitors an 8-6 lead as the two teams switched sides in the fifth. Three straight points by Haverford gave an 11-10 lead to the Fords. Haverford went on to have three straight chances to close out the match with a 14-11 edge. Down by three, Messiah had another run, tying the match at 14. The Falcons fought off two match points before back-to-back kills by Underman gave them a thrilling 18-16 win in the set.
Godbe paced the Fords' offense with 23 kills and just one error in 59 attempts (.373). The senior also had 20 digs to complete the double-double. O'Day had 17 kills while Courouble pitched in 10. Senior Olivia Walsh and sophomore Zoe Wong had 27 assists each. Senior Jeanna Kenney had a match-high 29 digs in the loss. Underman led all players with 27 kills for Messiah.
With today's win over Dickinson, the Fords improve to 22-6 all-time vs. the Red Devils. Haverford has not lost to Dickinson since 1999. The Fords have won nine straight conference matches at the Gooding '84 Arena. The volleyball team will travel to DeSales on Thursday (7 p.m.) before a tri-match at Baruch with NYU on Saturday.