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Matsumura Adds Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Team Honors

Sara Matsumura
Sara Matsumura

Full Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Release

HAVERFORD, Pa. - Haverford senior co-captain libero Sara Matsumura has been named to the 2019 Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Volleyball team, the Philadelphia Area Sports Information Directors Association (Philly-SIDA) announced in its annual release on Wednesday afternoon.

In order to be eligible for Academic All-Area honors, a student-athlete must be in at least her second year at the institution and hold a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 or better. The team of seven is voted on by the 30 sports information offices of the institutions from the Philadelphia metropolitan area. Matsumura adds the award to a bevy of postseason honors thus far in 2019. The chemistry major is the seventh member of the Haverford volleyball program to be named Academic All-Area by the newspaper.

Matsumura previously became the first Haverford player to garner inclusion on an All-America list since Meg O'Day was named an honorable mention in 2015. Matsumura was named the 10th AVCA All-American in program history after previously taking home AVCA All-Region honors in the Mid-Atlantic Region. The Salt Lake City, Utah product earned a first-team All-Centennial Conference selection, earning all-conference designation for the third consecutive season. Overall, Matsumura paced the conference in digs (521) and digs per set (5.99). Matsumura finished her season ranked 16th in Division III in digs per set, and caps her Haverford career ranked third in program history with 1,953 career digs and 4.98 digs per set. 

Matsumura is also a four-time member of the Centennial Conference All-Sportsmanship Team, becoming the first player in program history to garner that award in each of her four seasons. She has been named to the Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll and the Academic All-Centennial team in each season of eligibility. 

The volleyball team finished 22-9 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 victories.