WESTMINSTER, Md. – The Haverford College volleyball team nabbed a split today at the Gill Center as it fell to the McDaniel College Green Terror, 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-23), but tabbed a sweep against the FDU-Florham Devils (25-14, 25-21, 25-19).
After some back and forth action to begin the match, the Fords jumped ahead 16-12 before the Green Terror fought back to take an 18-17 advantage. The two Centennial Conference rivals exchanged points with Haverford taking a slight 21-20 lead before McDaniel ended the set with five of the final seven points to win, 25-22.
The home team looked to have seized control of the second stanza as it was up 20-13. After a timeout, head coach Michele Benoit's team regrouped, going on a 9-2 run to tie the match at 22-all, leading to a McDaniel timeout. Following the stoppage, the Green Terror scored three of four, highlighted by Kloe Martin's kill to give them a 2-0 lead.
An evenly played third set had the Fords in front, 21-18 after back-to-back kills by senior Meg O'Day, but the Green Terror quickly answered with three straight to retie the score. Another run of back-to-back kills by O'Day gave the visitors the lead, but McDaniel rallied with four consecutive tallies to win 25-23 and sweep the match.
O'Day led the Fords' offense with 16 kills (.433 attack percentage) while senior Keri Godbe registered a double-double with 17 digs and 11 kills. Senior Olivia Walsh had 21 assists while senior Jeanna Kenney added 20 digs in the loss.
Haverford had to get right back at it when it took on FDU-Florham in the second match of the day. The Fords started with 12 of the first 16 points in set one. A timeout by the Devils did nothing to stop momentum as the Fords went on to take the set, 25-14.
The second set saw both teams play equally with nine lead changes and eight ties. Tied at 19, the Fords had five straight points led by junior Valentine Couroube's two kills. The Devils fought off a set point, but Courouble stamped the win with a kill.
Tied at 11 in the third set, the Fords pushed ahead with a five point rally to take a 16-11 lead. FDU-Florham made more run, getting within one at 20-19, but Haverford countered with four of five points to pick up the sweep.
Godbe secured her second straight double-double with 18 digs and 15 kills. Courouble had 13 kills, a service ace and solo block. Senior Nina Mutty added 23 digs on the back line in the win.
Haverford's record now stands at 17-9 overall and 6-2 in the Centennial Conference while McDaniel is 17-6 (6-2 CC) and FDU-Florham is 21-11. The Fords are now in fourth in the conference behind Swarthmore (7-1), Johns Hopkins (5-1) and McDaniel (6-2). Washington College (Oct. 28, 4:30 p.m.) and Swarthmore (Oct. 31, 1:00 p.m.) come to the Gooding '84 Arena to wrap up the regular season.