HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College volleyball team sent its seniors out in a style with two wins on Saturday afternoon at Gooding '84 Arena. The Fords defeated the Elizabethtown Blue Jays 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-23) and the Kean Cougars 3-1 (30-32, 25-12, 25-17, 25-14).
Before the match vs. Elizabethtown, the team honored its two seniors Sarah Brody and Madison Fuelling. Both players have over 1,000 digs in their career and have been a part of two Centennial Conference playoff berths.
The Blue Jays jumped in front of the Fords 15-8 in the first set, but the home team stormed back to take a 16-15 lead. Elizabethtown quickly scored four straight points, but Haverford had a response, tallying four of the next five points to tie the score at 20. The two teams exchanged rallies before the Fords won the final three points to register the set victory.
Haverford looked to have taken control of the second set when it went up 14-11, but Elizabethtown tied the score at 14. The Fords won the next four points, but once again the Blue Jays tied the match at 18. Much like the first set, the two teams went back and forth, but the Fords tallied the final three points to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
The third set followed a similar script to the second stanza. Head coach Michele Benoit's team was ahead 16-9, however Elizabethtown collected 11 of the next 15 points which knotted the score at 20. Elizabethtown had leads of 21-20 and 22-21, but Haverford took the final set for the sweep.
Junior Meg O'Day paced the Fords with 14 kills and a spectacular .423 attack percentage. She also tied the team-high with four block assists. Junior Keri Godbe recorded her fourth straight double-double with a team-high 17 digs and 13 kills. Junior Olivia Walsh had a match-high 24 assists and four block assists in the win. The Blue Jays did not have a player over 10 kills and had an attack percentage of .117.
Despite having a .319 attack percentage in the first set, the Fords lost to the Cougars by a 32-30 decision. The final 22 points of the set featured 11 lead changes and 10 ties. Despite having leads of 24-23, 28-27 and 29-28, Haverford couldn't secure the set win.
The Fords reacted with an easy set two victory. The home team scored 11 of the final 13 points helped by a sparkling .375 attack percentage.
With the Cougars ahead 14-12 in the third set, the Fords took control by notching nine of the next 10 points to take a 23-15 advantage, a lead that they never relinquished. Haverford cruised to a fourth set win after scoring 12 of the first 15 points.
O'Day set a new career-high with 23 kills against Kean. She also had a .447 attack percentage, a solo block and four block assists. Godbe had her fifth consecutive double-double in the win (17 kills and 19 digs). Walsh finished with 29 assists while sophomore Valentine Courouble had eight kills and six block assists. Kassie Hernandez had 16 kills in the loss for the Cougars.
With the win, the Fords improve their record to 19-8 while Elizabethtown fell to 11-17 and Kean dropped to 14-15 on the season. Haverford will look to win 20 matches for the third consecutive season at Washington College on Wednesday beginning at 7:30 p.m.