Volleyball Dropped By DeSales in Five Sets

Zoe Wong

Posted: Sep 24, 2015

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – The Haverford College volleyball team fell to the DeSales University Bulldogs, 3-2 (23-25, 25-18, 25-18, 21-25, 15-12) at Billera Hall on Thursday night.

Senior Meg O'Day paced the Fords' offense with 17 kills (.351 attack percentage). Senior Keri Godbe and junior Valentine Courouble added in eight kills each. Sophomore Zoe Wong had seven service aces in the contest which is tied for the second most for a five-set match in program history. Wong also had 15 assists and seven digs in the loss.

After falling behind early in the first set, the Fords went on a 7-2 run to tie the match at 13-all. The two teams exchanged points, tying the score on five different occasions before a kill by Godbe gave Haverford a 23-22 advantage. After each team scored a point, a DeSales service error would give the road team a 25-23 set win.

DeSales registered 12 of the first 16 points in second set. The Fords would cut their deficit to three on two occasions, but couldn't get any closer. Already ahead 18-15, the Bulldogs went on a 4-0 spurt to put the set out of reach as they would go on to win 25-18.

The third set saw the home team score the first eight points, leading to a Haverford timeout. The Fords went on a 9-4 run out of the timeout, however the Bulldogs responded with nine consecutive points to take a commanding 21-9 lead. DeSales took the the set by the same score of its predecessor, 25-18.

Set four was evenly played with each team squared at 11-all. The set continued with a pair of runs, first by the Fords who jumped in front by five (20-15) and then the Bulldogs who answered with five of six points (21-20). Haverford ended the set with three points behind a kill from sophomore Kaylynn Mayo, a service ace from Godbe and an attack error by DeSales.

Tied at five in the fifth set, the Bulldogs put up four of six points to take an 11-7 advantage. The Fords did not go away, coming all the way back to tie the set at 12. A kill by Kait Anderson and back-to-back kills by Logan Wieziolowski would give DeSales a 15-12 set victory and a 3-2 decision in the match.

Head coach Michele Benoit's team falls to 8-4 on the season while DeSales improves to 11-5 overall. The Fords will now travel to New York for a tri-match vs. NYU (1 p.m.) and Baruch (3 p.m.) on Saturday. Haverford has never lost to Baruch (2-0) and hasn't faced off against NYU since 2010.