Volleyball History

Former coach Ann Koger founded the Haverford College volleyball program in 1980-81 when she pulled together the first-ever Fords volleyball squad with only one class of women to draw upon.

Koger, a former star herself at Morgan State (Md.), remained the sole head coach of the volleyball team for 17 years, with one season off to finish her doctorate in education. The team soon gained respectability with Tamra Siegel ’86 emerging as Haverford's first real volleyball ace.

The Fords achieved an initial playoff berth in their Middle Atlantic Conference days and have since established themselves as a perennial Centennial Conference postseason contender. Alisa Bieber ’97 helped the team make the transition to Centennial membership. Koger stepped down as volleyball head coach after the 1996 season to focus on her other duties as an athletic administrator and women's tennis head coach at Haverford.

Under Jim Haney, Haverford improved each year by defeating several scholarship opponents and challenging many regionally and nationally ranked teams. In 1999, the Fords enjoyed their first winning season in a decade, then they exploded to a 30-6 mark in 2000 and a share of their first-ever regular season Centennial Conference title with an 8-2 record (21-12 overall) in 2001.

Amy Bergin carried on Haney's successful tradition after taking over the Fords in 2002. In her first two years, the Fords amassed a 41-20 overall record and made back-to-back appearances in the Centennial Conference playoffs. Jen Constantino ’04, who set numerous Haverford records and won the College's Varsity Cup while playing for Haney and Bergin, earned four straight first-team All-Centennial Conference honors as well as academic all-district recognition. Setter Steph Frank ’03 and outside hitter Jelyn Meyer ’04 rank among the College's all-time statistical leaders and were mainstays of the Fords’ playoff teams. In 2003, the Fords – led by tournament co-MVPs Constantino and Meyer – won the Seven Sisters Championship for the first time in school history.

The Fords became a fixture at the top of the Centennial Conference as they made 12 straight conference postseason appearances from 2001 through 2012. Capturing four consecutive conference championships (2006-09), Haverford also advanced to the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Semifinals in 2006 and 2009. Highlighting this run of excellence was the 2007 squad, an NCAA Sweet Sixteen participant, that spent four straight weeks at No. 11 in all of Division III and finished the season ranked 18th in the nation. Eight players received All-American honors and 12 merited All-Mideast Region recognition as the Fords claimed four consecutive Centennial Conference Players of the Year awards (Rachel Salvo-2007, Rebecca Salvo-2008 and 2009, Kelsey Cantwell-2010).

Michele Benoit took over the team starting in 2011 season, coaching five seasons and leading the team to 98 wins and four appearances in the Centennial Conference Tournament. Haverford’s most recent NCAA Tournament appearance came under her watch in 2014 as the Fords hosted the Centennial Conference Tournament as the No. 1 seed and earned an at-large berth to the championship field. One year later, the Fords were just short of a return appearance to the NCAAs as they fell to McDaniel in a five-set Centennial Conference thriller behind multiple first-team All-Centennial Conference selections Meg O’Day and Keri Godbe ’16. O’Day was also named the Centennial Conference Player of the Year and an AVCA All-American during her career.

Drew Hargrave took over as Haverford’s head coach at the beginning of the 2016 season and has led the Fords to a pair of Centennial Conference Tournament appearances. Sara Matsumura ’20 became the first player to earn honorable mention All-American honors under Hargrave while also being selected as the College’s Gregory Kannerstein ’63 Award recipient after leading the Fords to a 22-9 record during her senior season.