HAVERFORD, Pa. – After a convincing Centennial Conference tournament opening-round victory over Gettysburg College, the Haverford College volleyball team heads to the semifinals optimistic about what it can accomplish this upcoming weekend at Franklin & Marshall College.
The fourth-seeded Fords (21-9, 7-3 CC) will match up against top seed, and conference tournament host, Franklin & Marshall (17-13, 9-1) in the first semifinal on Saturday at noon. Haverford was responsible for the Diplomats' lone conference loss of the season as it edged visiting F&M, 3-2, in a thriller at Gooding Arena on Oct. 6. Keri Godbe (13), Meg O'Day (13), Nina Mutty (10) and Emily Mills (10) all tallied double figures for the Fords' balanced attack that registered a .417 hitting percentage in the deciding fifth set. Mutty and Madison Fuelling spearheaded a sound defensive effort with 23 and 22 digs, respectively.
Senior Candice Tussing (15 kills) and sophomore Julie Harvey (14 kills, 2.5 blocks) loomed large for the Diplomats during the regular-season contest as they have all year. The reigning conference player of the week, Tussing leads the squad with an average of 2.4 kills per set while Harvey, the 2011 Centennial co-player of the year, ranks first on the team in blocks (1.07 per set). F&M tops the conference in blocks overall averaging 1.83 blocks per set. Sophomore Candice Tussing is another player to watch in the Franklin & Marshall lineup as she ranks third in the conference in assists (7.90 per set) despite none of her teammates ranking in the top 10 of the conference in hitting percentage or kills.
The other semifinal features No. 2 Johns Hopkins University (27-3, 9-1 CC) facing off against third-seeded Swarthmore College (19-5, 8-2). The defending Centennial champion, Johns Hopkins poses a big challenge as it ranks first in the conference in hitting percentage (.243) and opponent hitting percentage (.119). Freshman Jasmine Wamington has made an immediate impact in the Blue Jays' lineup as she ranks third in the Centennial in hitting percentage (.323) and kills (3.33 per set). Swarthmore, first in the conference in kills, assists and digs, will rely on the trio of Brone Lobichusky (.279 hitting percentage), Kathryn Montemurro (3.20 kills per set) and Allison Coleman (8.12 assists per set).
Haverford head coach Michele Benoit's squad is excited to be returning to the conference semifinals once again. "I feel that there is a great deal of parity across the top teams in the conference and any one of the four teams can take the championship," said Benoit. "We have to play our absolute best to get past Franklin & Marshall, especially on its home court."
A victory over the Diplomats would land the Fords a spot in Sunday's championship match scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.