Centennial Conference Tournament Central
HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College volleyball team (22-9) was upended by visiting Swarthmore (16-11) on Wednesday evening inside the Gooding '84 Arena as the Garnet took the Centennial Conference First Round rematch against the Fords by set scores of 21-25, 25-12, 25-18, 25-21. Swarthmore advances to a Centennial Conference semifinal matchup against No. 6 Johns Hopkins in Baltimore on Saturday afternoon.
Dina Kosyagin led Haverford with 15 kills, while Sydney Miller had a match-high 34 assists. Isabel Schwam had 19 digs to pace Haverford while Elena Filograna added 10 in a well-rounded defensive effort for the Fords. Julia Gallagher-Teske added seven blocks.
As was the case on Saturday, Haverford took the first set thanks in part to a hot start, as the Fords began the contest on an 11-5 run. Swarthmore called timeout following consecutive kills from Miller and Lindsey Keener, and the Garnet cut Haverford's advantage to just four at 15-12 following a block from Alexa Bartlett and Emma-Morgan Bennett. From that point, the Fords went back to work with a renewed focus as a Keener kill prompted a second Swarthmore timeout at 22-15. Swarthmore again had an answer, cutting the Haverford lead back to just two before a block from Gallagher-Teske ended the set at 25-21 in favor of the hosts.
Swarthmore came out red hot in the second set, hitting .200 while limiting the Fords to a negative hitting percentage. In a reverse of the first set, it was the Garnet who charged to a big early lead, as a block from Morgan-Bennett and Alyssa Nathan put the visitors up by eight at 12-4. The Fords clawed back to within that same eight point margin as late as 18-10 following a block from Miller and Kendall Otridge, but Swarthmore eventually pulled away down the stretch, cruising to a 25-12 second-set victory to even the match at a set each.
The third saw Swarthmore hit a match-best .393, but the Fords were able to hang tough with the potent attack as the two sides were deadlocked at 9-9. Swarthmore opened up a 16-10 advantage with back-to-back kills from Bartlett and Chloe Mayhue, but again Haverford rallied to within two at 18-16, prompting a Swarthmore timeout. A solo block from Otridge fired up the large Gooding Arena crowd before the Garnet finished on a 5-0 run to take the third stanza.
The fourth resembled the third in the early goings, with both sides fighting for separation in a defensive-minded stretch. Swarthmore briefly took an 11-8 advantage, but back-to-back kills from Kosyagin evened the set at 11-11. Neither side held a lead of more than two points for much of the frame as Gallagher-Teske and Miller teamed up on a block to tie the score at 19-19. Swarthmore rallied to grab match point at 24-19, but Haverford fended off defeat with a Kosyagin kill and a block from Gallagher-Teske before Alexa Bartlett sent the Garnet to the semifinal with a kill at 25-21.
Den Braven had 15 kills and 14 digs to lead Swarthmore, while Alyssa Nathan added 32 assists and four service aces. Isabelle Andrews had seven total blocks for the visitors.
The loss brings to a close the collegiate careers of Haverford seniors Christine Anderson, Julia Gallagher-Teske, Sara Matsumura, and Kendall Robison. Gallagher-Teske finishes her Haverford career with a school-record 426 total blocks. The total is also sixth in the history of the Centennial Conference.
Haverford will now await the announcement of postseason awards in the next several weeks. Haverford took great strides forward in 2019, as the squad opened the season with 12 consecutive victories, finished with 20 wins for the first time since 2015, and returned to the postseason for the 17th time in the last 20 seasons. Haverford's 22 wins were the most for the program in a single season since the 2014 squad also notched 22.