Centennial Conference 2016 Preseason Poll
Centennial Conference 2016 Preseason Guide
2016 Schedule
2016 Roster
HAVERFORD, Pa. - After falling just short of an NCAA tournament berth a season ago, the Haverford Volleyball team looks forward to the start of a new era under first-year head coach Drew Hargrave, with an eye on postseason success in 2016.
Hargrave takes over the program from Michele Benoit, who returned to northeast Ohio as the head coach of John Carroll University for the 2016 campaign. Hargrave, who was an All-American and won a national championship as a player at Washington University in St. Louis, comes to Haverford after spending the last three seasons as an assistant coach at Smith College in Massachusetts.
The Fords, who qualified for the Centennial Conference tournament for the 15th time in the last 16 seasons in 2015, are coming off a fourth consecutive 20-win season for just the second time in program history.
Haverford reached the championship of the Centennial Conference after being voted the preseason favorite, but fell in a five-set heartbreaker to McDaniel. In the classroom, the Fords saw seven players named the Centennial Conference honor roll, good for second amongst their Centennial peers.
Haverford will be without the services of a senior class that combined for 84 wins and a NCAA regional semifinals trip in 2014. Despite losing AVCA All-America Honorable Mention Meg O'Day and four-time All-Centennial selection Keri Godbe, Haverford does return three of its five leaders in kills as captain Valentine Courouble (256 kills), Natalie Pisch (139 kills) and Kaylynn Mayo (111 kills) all hope to make a splash in the Centennial yet again.
A senior class that includes Courouble, Mayo, captain Abby Keller and Elena Garcia (53 kills) will provide mentorship and guidance for a large crop of newcomers from across the nation including Christine Anderson (Greenwood Village, Colo), Julia Gallagher-Teske (Doylestown, Pa.), Sara Matsumura (Salt Lake City, Utah), Hailey O'Mara (Severna Park, Md.) and Kendall Robison (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) The freshmen are expected to contribute immediately, with the Fords needing to replace the production of a celebrated graduating class.
Setter Zoe Wong (546 assists) is the lone junior on the squad that features sophomores Pisch and Maddie Becker (12 matches with a least five digs).
Haverford will attempt to defy the Centennial Conference preseason poll that slated the Fords to finish in the sixth position behind projected conference champion Swarthmore, Johns Hopkins, Franklin & Marshall, McDaniel and Muhlenberg.
The squad travels to Immaculata (Sept. 1) to begin the season before hosting Marymount, MIT, Heidelberg and Delaware Valley in the Haverford Invitational on Sept. 3-4 at Calvin Gooding '84 Arena. The schedule features 26 matches including 13 that will take place at home.
A showdown with Main Line foe No. 21 on Eastern at the Stockton Tournament on September 24 is an early season test for the young Fords. The Centennial Conference tournament begins with the first round matchup on November 2 while the semifinals are on November 5 and the championship on November. 6. The NCAA Regionals beginning the following week (Nov. 10-12).