Full Centennial Conference Release

HAVERFORD, Pa. - Haverford senior co-captain and libero Sara Matsumura has been named the Centennial Conference Volleyball Player of the Week, the conference office announced in a release on Tuesday morning. 

Matsumura, a second-team All-Centennial Conference selection a season ago, earns her first weekly honor after being named the Most Valuable Player of the Ford Invitational on Saturday afternoon. The Salt Lake City, Utah product notched 89 digs in a second consecutive 4-0 weekend for the Fords, and also added eight service aces and nine assists. The Fords are off to their best start since the 2009 season, winning each of the first eight matches of the season inside Gooding '84 Arena. 

Matsumura averaged 5.24 digs per set, including 37 digs in a five-set thriller against Cabrini on Friday night. The 37-dig performance ranks 10th in program single-match history and eighth in program history for a five-set contest. Matsumura has compiled double-digit digs in 36 consecutive matches, dating back to the 2017 season finale against Swarthmore. 

The chemistry major currently leads the Centennial in digs with 158 and is third in program history in digs per set (4.76) and total digs (1,307) for her career. The plaudit is Haverford's first weekly award since Valentine Corouble '17 took home player of the week in October of 2016. 

The Fords return to action on Friday afternoon at the 22nd annual Buttermaker Tournament, hosted by Muhlenberg. Action in Allentown, Pa. will begin at 5 p.m. with a rematch against Eastern, before the Fords take on Penn State Abington in the nightcap at 7 p.m. The primetime matchup will be the first between the Fords and Nittany Lions since the 1986 season, when the campus was known as Penn State Ogontz.