GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The Haverford College volleyball team split a tri-match inside the Bream Gym on the Gettysburg College campus on Saturday afternoon, falling in four sets to the host Bullets before taking a neutral-site non-conference contest from Manhattanville in four sets. Haverford is now 12-8 on the season (1-4 CC) after the pair of matches. Set scores for the Gettysburg match were 25-11, 25-27, 14-25, 20-25. Set scores against Manhattanville were 25-18, 24-26, 25-20, 25-22.
Gettysburg 3, Haverford 1
Haverford came out firing on all cylinders in the first set against the Bullets. The Fords sprinted out to an early 8-1 lead, using an 8-0 run with Sydney Miller at the service line to coax an early timeout from Gettyburg. Zoe Wong and Sara Matsumura combined for five kills in the sequence while Miller contributed two service aces. The lead stretched to as large as 18-4, as Gettysburg seemingly had no answer for a crisp Fords attack. Gettysburg called timeout down 18-4, and were able to salvage a double-digit output, but the Fords cruised to a 25-11 victory, as a 3-0 run sealed the set for Haverford.
The second set was a back-and-forth battle between the two sides with neither team able to garner much separation with Haverford hitting .118 and Gettysburg hitting .170 in the stanza. Haverford took an early 8-6 lead but Bullets battled to tie things at 9-9. From that point forward, the lead for either squad would not eclipse two as the Bullets eventually prevailed 27-25 in extra points. Allie Stranick had a pair of kills as the hosts came back from the brink of defeat to take the second set.
The third set saw Gettysburg become the team out to a big early lead, as the Bullets pulled ahead 16-6 to prompt a Haverford timeout. The Fords were able to cut the advantage to eight at 19-11 with a Claire Nicholas kill, but Gettysburg cruised to an 11 point win at 25-14 behind a defensive effort that limited the Fords to just .036 hitting.
In the fourth set, the Fords and Bullets were deadlocked in the early goings, as Gettysburg took a three point lead as 18-15 with a Lauren Godshalk kill. The lead stretched to five as late as 22-18 as Stranick delivered a kill to prompt a Haverford timeout. Madison Adore put Haverford within four with a kill, but Kasey Higgins ended the match in favor of the hosts with a kill at 25-20.
Nicholas led the way with nine kills while Julia Gallagher-Teske chipped in eight. Matsumura and Natalie Pisch each contributed seven while Adore has six in a well-rounded offensive effort for Haverford. Wong posted 33 assists while four Fords had double digit dig totals, as Matsumura led the effort with 20. Nicholas and Pisch each had three total blocks in the match. Miller contributed four service aces.
Higgins paced Gettysburg with 16 kills while Caroline Sequeira had 30 digs. Shannon Fletcher had four blocks while Stephanie Blair had 37 assists. Gettysburg out-hit the Fords .150 to .135 on the afternoon.
Haverford 3, Manhattanville 1
In the first ever matchup between the two programs, Haverford prevailed past the Valiants of Manhattanville (MAC Freedom) in a neutral-site matchup. Matsumura and Pisch each had 15 kills while the pair both tallied double-doubles with Matsumura recording 16 digs and Pisch tallying 15.
The Fords and Valiants were tied early in the first set, with Manhattanville taking some of the early momentum at 14-12, as Keisha Schutte and Meagan Dattoma posted back-to-back kills for a 14-12 lead, leading to a Haverford timeout. A solo block from Gallagher-Teske prompted a timeout from Manhattanville with the Fords back ahead 20-17, and the Fords finished the set on a 5-0 run after Manhattanville had cut the lead to just two at 20-18. A Wong service ace was the only offensive output in the run as the Valiants made four errors in the stretch. The Fords made just two errors in the set while forcing 10 errors from Manhattanville.
In the third set, Haverford jumped out to a 16-12 lead and stretched the advantage to 20-14 with back-to-back kills from Adore and Pisch. Manhattanville cut the Haverford ead to four on the brink of dropping the set at 24-20, but Matsumura finished the set with a kill at 25-20 to give Haverford a 2-1 advantage.
In the early goings of the fourth set, Manhattanville sprinted out to a 14-7 lead before Haverford rattled off a 7-0 run to tie things at 14-14, capping the comeback with a block from Gallagher-Teske and Pisch. The Valiants pushed their lead back to 19-16, but the Fords tied the contest at 21-21 after back-to-back errors. Haverford took the lead for good with a block from Matsumura and Gallagher-Teske and recorded three of the final four points for a 25-22 win to clinch the match.
Four Fords had double-digit dig totals, with Miller leading the charge with 17. Wong had 40 assists in the match while Matsumura had three service aces. Matsumura's 15 kills was a new career best.
Kerry Mackey had 18 kills for Manhattanville, with Dattoma and Reid also tallying double-digit outputs. Monica Lopez had 34 digs while Schutte added 45 assists. Reid had 6 blocks for the match.
The Fords will now return to conference action with a home match against Wshington College on Wednesday, October 11. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. inside Gooding '84 Arena.