HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College volleyball team certainly enters the 2022 campaign with high expectations, and those expectations are being matched by some national recognition as the team is receiving votes in the release of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) National Preseason Coaches Poll, the organization announced on Friday afternoon.
Haverford tallied 24 total voting points, up from eight in the final poll of 2021 after making an NCAA tournament appearance to cap a memorable season. The run to the tournament was the first for Haverford since the 2014 season as volleyball notched a 24-6 overall record, the program's most wins since the 2009 season. The Fords capped off its postseason stint with an NCAA First Round victory over UMass-Boston at the Cambridge, Mass. Regional on the campus of MIT.
Haverford will have to replace a large chunk of production from a core of graduated leaders, but Centennial Conference Rookie of the Year and Honorable Mention All-America selection Juliet Young returns for her sophomore year with All-Centennial Conference performer Taylor Jones returning to the front-row.
In 2021, Haverford returned to the Centennial Conference playoffs for the 18th time in the last 21 seasons. That stretch included a season-best of nine consecutive wins in the middle of the season, as Haverford sprinted out to a 12-0 start. Haverford's 24 wins built on the 2019 season that saw the program register 22 wins, which at the time, was the most for the program in a single season since the 2014 squad that also notched 22 victories.
After a productive and memorable foreign tour of The Netherlands and Germany, preseason practices are slated to begin on Saturday. The 2022 regular season kicks off with the annual Haverford Invitational inside Gooding '84 Arena on Friday, September 2.
The Fords will take on Cabrini (5:30 p.m.) and Elizabethtown (7:30 p.m.) ahead of contests with Stockton (11 a.m.) and New Jersey City (2 p.m.) on Saturday to round out the first weekend of action. A test again nationally ranked opposition comes early in the year with a home test against No. 22 Susquehanna on Friday, September 9 (5:30 p.m.).
Fords Fans are encouraged to follow @HCFords_Sports on Twitter and @HCFordsSports on Instagram for the latest updates on the varsity athletic programs.