HAVERFORD, Pa. – After defeating the Swarthmore College Garnet 3-2 last Saturday in a de facto Centennial Conference first place game, the Haverford College volleyball team will host the conference tournament at the Gardner '84 Arena for the first time since the 2010 season on Saturday and Sunday.
The No. 1 seeded Fords (21-8, 9-1 CC) will take on the No. 5 Franklin and Marshall Diplomats (19-11, 6-4 CC) in the first semifinal game on Saturday at 1 p.m. while the No. 2 Swarthmore Garnet (22-6, 9-1 CC) will play the No. 3 Muhlenberg College Mules (24-7, 8-2 CC) in the second semifinal game at 3:30 p.m. The two winners will take part in the championship match on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
Following a 3-1 record during the Haverford Invitational (Aug. 30-31), the Fords did not lose a home match the rest of the season. The volleyball team's 12-1 home record is the best since it went 14-0 in 2009. Haverford won 20 matches for the third consecutive season under head coach Michele Benoit. Benoit won her 500th career match earlier this year against SUNY-Cortland (Sept 6).
The Fords took down the Diplomats 3-1 on Oct. 1 at the Gardner '84 Arena. Juniors Nina Mutty and Keri Godbe each recorded double-doubles in the match. Mutty had 12 kills and tied a team-high with 17 digs while Godbe had 12 kills and 14 digs. Junior Meg O'Day led Haverford with 18 kills and a .417 attack percentage. She also had six block assists in the victory.
O'Day paced the offense for the Fords with 418 kills and an attack percentage of .352 in the regular season. She leads the conference in kills, total blocks (119) and ranks second in attack percentage. Godbe is right behind her, ranking third with 381 kills while also placing fifth with 425 digs. Junior Jeanna Kenney leads the conference with 452 digs to help out the Fords' backline. Haverford led the conference with 232 total blocks and 1,227 assists. Junior Olivia Walsh had 510 assists and freshman Zoe Wong had 486 assists to help set up the offense.
Sarah Wallace's 383 kills ranks second in the Centennial Conference and is one of the few reasons why Swarthmore is the No.2 seed in the tournament. Madison Heppe was a defensive leader on the backline with 415 digs. The Garnet's only conference loss came at the hands of the Fords on the final day of the season (Nov. 1).
One of the only two teams with two players among the conference's top ten in kills, the No. 3 seeded Muhlenberg College Mules are headed by Katherine Boll (291 kills) and Allison Gall (280 kills). Boll was also second in the conference with 112 total blocks while Nikki Dickson had the most service aces among conference foes with 70.
The Diplomats come into this weekend's semifinals having defeated the three-time defending conference champion, Johns Hopkins Blue Jays, in five sets on Wednesday in the 4/5 matchup. F&M took the first two sets (25-23 25-22) before Johns Hopkins picked up wins (25-18, 25-23) in the third and fourth stanzas. The Diplomats, who fell to the Blue Jays in the regular season, took the deciding fifth set 15-9.
The Haverford College volleyball team has qualified for the Centennial Conference playoffs 14 of the last 15 years. The 2014 campaign marks the fourth time (2007, 2009-10) that the Fords have hosted the conference tournament. Haverford won four straight conference titles from 2006-09. In 2007, the Fords went to NCAA Division III Regional Finals and the Regional Semifinals in 2009.
Franklin and Marshall and Haverford have met twice in the Centennial Conference playoffs. The Fords won the conference championship in 2006 (3-0), while the Diplomats won 3-0 in the 2012 semifinals.
Fans unable to make this weekend's tournament can follow along through live stats and live video linked at the top of the page. For updates on all the Centennial Conference Championships that are taking place this weekend, be sure to visit "Championship Central" on the HaverfordAthletics.com homepage.