HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College volleyball team dispatched visiting Washington College in straight sets on Wednesday evening at the Gooding '84 Arena on the Haverford campus. Set scores were 25-16, 25-23, 26-24. The Fords were paced by the season's fourth double-double effort from Sara Matsumura, who had 10 kills and 14 digs, as well as a 10-kill night from first year Claire Nicholas. The Fords improve to 13-8 (2-4 CC) while Washington College falls to 14-7 (2-4 CC) in defeat.

Haverford hit .333 in the first stanza, sprinting out to a 5-0 start behind a pair of service aces from Nicholas and back-to-back kills from Matsumura. Haverford made it 12-4 with a Zoe Wong service ace and extended the advantage to 15-8 with a Natalie Pisch service ace. Washington College called for timeout down 19-11 after Julia Gallagher-Teske finished a kill, and the Fords later took advantage of two consecutive Shorewomen attack errors to go ahead 22-14, pulling to a 25-16 finish as Nicholas finished the set with a kill.

Defense was the name of the game for the Fords in the second set, holding Washington College to a negative hitting percentage, as the Shorewomen made 11 errors on 37 total swings. Haverford took an early 13-8 lead in the set, with Matsumura finishing a kill, but a 7-0 run gave the advantage to Washington College at 15-13. The set was tied as late as 19-19, but Haverford benefited from four straight Washington College errors to go ahead 23-19. Wong put the Fords on the doorstep with a kill on a setter dump, but the Shorewomen battled back, trailing by just one at 24-23 before an attack error gave the Fords the set at 25-23.

The third set was another tight battle between the two sides as neither team found much separation in the early goings. A momentus block from Matsumura and Gallagher-Teske gave the Fords an early 10-9 lead and the pair teamed up later for a block that put Haverford up by one at 20-19. Pisch delivered a kill and after an attack error from the visitors, Haverford saw itself with breathing room up 22-20. After a timeout, the lead stretched to 23-20 on a Wong kill. Undaunted, Washington College again came back from the brink, tying the score at 24-24 with a stretch that saw Lizzie Baden and Abby Smith active on the offensive front.Pisch put Haverford up for good at 25-24, taking match point before Matsumura clinched her double-double effort along with the match with a kill, sealing a 26-24 set victory.

In addition to the double-digit kill outputs from Matsumura and Nicholas, Wong contributed 29 assists while Pisch had 20 digs. Nicholas also pitched in three service aces while Gallagher-Teske had three total blocks to lead the Fords. Baden had 13 kills for the Shorewomen, who also received 27 assists from Taylor Horan and 19 digs from Cassie Kowalski. Kylie Peets had four total blocks.

The Fords will continue the Centennial Conference season on Saturday, October 14 as McDaniel comes to the Gooding '84 Arena for a 12 p.m. first serve. The tri-match will also feature Cabrini, with Haverford taking on its Main Line foe at 4 p.m. to wrap up the day.