HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford volleyball team opened play at its home tournament, the 31st annual Haverford Invitational, on Saturday, splitting a pair of matches. The Fords took down Marymount (Va.) in four sets (25-23, 25-21, 19-25, 25-20) before falling in a back-and-forth five set showdown with MIT in the nightcap of the tournament's first day (26-24, 17-25, 25-20, 25-21, 10-15) at Gooding '84 Arena. The Fords sit at 2-1 on the young season while MIT improves to 2-0 after winning a matinee matchup against Delaware Valley earlier in the day.
Haverford was led in the first match of the day by Maddie Becker, who set a new career high in kills with 15 on 38 total swings. Haverford also had a great match from Natalie Pisch, who registered 11 kills.
Marymount started the match on a 6-2 run, but the Fords battled back to take the lead for the first time late in the match. The Fords were able to close in on the Saints after a solid serving run from Hailey O'Mara. After O'Mara's stint led to four straight points for Haverford, a Marymount service error put Haverford up at the 21-10 mark. The Fords went down again 23-21 thanks to a pair of service aces from Caroline Hanson, but after a timeout, the hosts rallied with a Maddie Becker kill, a pair of service aces and an attack error from Marymount. Valentine Courouble delivered an ace to finish the set 25-23.
Haverford again had a rally in the second set, at one point turning an 8-6 deficit into a 14-12 lead before the Saints took a 15-14 advantage. The brief moment in the lead would be the last of the set for Marymount, as Haverford kept the opposition at bay, ending the set with a kill from Julia Gallagher-Teske and a Margaret McAlpin attack error to go up 2-0 with a 25-21 win.
Marymount rallied in the third set, forcing a fourth set. Haverford took a 9-4 lead early aided by four straight points after a Becker kill started a Courouble serving run. Marymount tied it at 9-9 as Caroline Hanson and Emileigh Rettig combined to hit the Saints back into the set. The match was tied as late as 18-18, with Hanson and Cailyn Thomas providing most of the offense in the middle stretch of the set for the visitors. The Fords took a 24-20 lead, forcing a Marymount timeout. The break would be to no avail, as Courouble put Haverford on the brink of a second straight victory with a kill and Mallory Mitchell made an attack error to seal the win.
Wong finished with 37 assists, two away from a career high, while Gallagher-Teske had four blocks in her second collegiate match.
The second match was a five-set epic between the Fords and the Engineers of MIT. Haverford outlasted MIT in the first set, taking the win 26-24 after going up as many as four at 19-15. MIT fought back from the deficit to pull to within one at 19-18 after Shea Landeene picked up back-to-back kills with Tori Wuthrich serving. Haverford took a 24-19 lead as an attack error by Lisette Tellez preceded a service ace with Becker serving and a ball handling error preceded a Zoe Wong kill. MIT pushed the score to just 23-25, and the Fords called timeout. Natalie Pisch punched in a kill off a Wong assist, one of her 38, and Megan Gebhard made an attack error to give the Fords the first set win.
MIT won the second set despite a seven point run by Haverford that turned a 15-10 deficit into a 17-15 lead. Hailey O'Mara was the server as the Fords received kills from Courouble and Gallagher-Teske to spearhead the effort. MIT finished the set on a 3-0 run, including two service aces, tying the match at one set apiece.
The third set was also characterized by a big Fords run, as the hosts again went on a 7-0 stretch to flip an 8-5 lead into a 15-5 advantage, giving the team some much needed breathing room. Courouble was the server during the run, which ended with a serve into the net. MIT battled back, but the Fords made the big lead stand, ending the set at 25-20 with a Pisch kill.
A fourth set triumph was in the cards for MIT, as the Fords were tied at 19-19 after a Pisch kill. MIT was forced to take a timeout as Haverford cut the lead to just 22-21 in favor of the Engineers, but MIT responded with the final three points, receiving some standout setting from Christina Liao, who was able to feed Lisette Tellez and Megan Gebhard for crucial late-set kills to force a fifth and final frame.
The Fords were in a 10-4 hole early in the decisive set before battling back to trail just 12-9 as the Engineers called for time. The Fords would be stuck on nine in the set, however, as Liao and Gebhard combined for the final two attacks of the night, sending MIT to a road win at 15-10.
Pisch and Courouble both had double-digit kills with Pisch going for 12 and Courouble picking up 11. The Fords had 11 blocks in the contest. MIT had four scorers in double-digits in kills, as Abby Bertics joined Tellez Landeene and Gebhard in achieving the feat.
Next up for Haverford is a return to the Gooding '84 Arena tomorrow as Haverford is set to do battle with Heidelberg (12:00 p.m.) and Delaware Valley (4:00 p.m.)