HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College volleyball team picked up a pair of victories on Saturday at Gooding '84 Arena, taking a tri-match sweep of Messiah and Rutgers-Camden in front of the home crowd. The Fords are now 3-4 on the young season at the end of the day of contests. 

Haverford 3, Messiah 1 (28-26, 23-25, 25-10, 25-21)

The Fords fell behind early, as Messiah unleashed a 10-6 run to begin play. Haverford battled back to tie the score at 11-11 with back-to-back kills from Eliana Brown and Claire Jordan helped put the Fords right back into the swing of things. The two teams traded points until a big Haverford run put Haverford ahead 21-15, that stretch included back-to-back service aces from Jordan and a key block from Caroline Lucas and Izabela Potocnjak. 

Messiah battled back to within one, but Taylor Jones and Eliana Brown connected to put the Fords on the verge up 22-24. Messiah again had a rally, tying things at 24-24, and later 25-25. With things all knotted up at 26-26, a block from Jordan and Potocnjak was vital to give the Fords another set point, where the frame ended in favor of the hosts on an attack error at 28-26.

The Falcons pulled ahead 15-9 to begin the second, prompting a Haverford timeout. The Fords got back to an 18-18 tie with a huge run that came with Kira Chaney at the service line, as Jones and Jordan connected on a block to punctuate the 7-0 spurt. Messiah had new life behind Caitlin Lielbriedis and Malina Beideman, eventually closing the Fords out at 25-23 with a block and a Mackenzie Feight kill at 25-23.

The third saw a nearly flawless performance from the Fords, who played perhaps their best volleyball of the young season in the frame. Haverford jetted out to an 11-5 run, and showed no signs of slowing down as Kayla Chu was on the service line and oversaw a huge stretch as the lead grew to 19-5. Messiah went largely quietly as the Fords were on the brink of closing things out after a convincing 25-10 triumph.

Haverford hit .400 for the set, and did not commit an error. The fourth was a more back-and-forth set, but the Fords opened up a 14-10 lead as prowess from Brown and Jones on the block lifted the Fords. Messiah rallied, but Brown and Jordan collected kills ahead of a solo block from Jones prompting a Messiah timeout. The Falcons trimmed the lead back within two at 20-18, but solid play from the Fords down the stretch gave the hosts set point up 24-20 following a Potocnjak kill, and an attack error ended the match at 25-21.

Haverford hit .217 for the match overall as Brown (12 kills), Jordan (12 kills) and Potocnjak (10 kills) each tallied in double-digits. Chu had a standout game, adding 26 assists and 16 digs. Juliet Young (25 digs) and Kira Chaney (18 digs) were also standouts defensively with Jordan tallying six service aces. The blocking effort was on-point all afternoon, with Jones adding eight total blocks.

Haverford 3, Rutgers-Camden 0 (25-21, 25-13, 25-20) 

The Fords returned in the late-afternoon for a three-set sweep of the visiting Scarlet Raptors. Rutgers-Camden looked strong in the early goings, going toe-to-toe with the Fords before a Jones block helped cap an early run that gave Haverford a 10-6 advantage. The lead eventually stretched to 16-11 following a Jordan service ace, but Rutgers-Camden battled back within one at 18-17. From that point, the Fords were able to fend off the challenge as Potocnjak had three crucial kills down the stretch, coming alive at the right time to hand set one to the Fords at 25-21. 

In the second, the two sides were tied as late as 11-11, when the Fords took control. A huge 11-0 run gave the Fords a commanding 22-11 lead and left RUC searching for answers. The Scarlet Raptors finally ended the run with an Erica Nebrich kill, but back-to-back service aces for Chu ended the frame at 25-13 in favor of Haverford.

The third set saw Haverford shaking off RUC a bit earlier, opening up on a 10-4 spurt. The lead hit 16-5 in favor of the Fords, but the visitors battled back to within three at 19-16 following a Mia Francis service ace. The Scarlet Raptors got no closer than three, however, as a 3-0 run gave the Fords a 23-17 cushion before Potocnjak drilled a service ace to end the match at 25-20. 

Potocnjak had 12 kills against just three errors in a strong performance in game two. Chu added 19 assists while Dasha Igonin tallied 17. Young had 16 digs to pace Haverford. 

The Fords now head to Scranton for the Electric City Invite on Saturday, September 16, taking on SUNY Cortland (12 p.m.) and the host Royals (2:30 p.m.), kicking off a stretch of five contests away from home before a midweek clash with No. 22 Mary Washington on Wednesday, September 27.