By Jordan Schilit and Stephen Handlon
Gooding Arena was the place to be this weekend as the Haverford volleyball team won its fourth consecutive Centennial Conference championship. The Fords defeated Swarthmore 3-1 in Saturday’s conference semifinal and Gettysburg 3-0 in Sunday’s conference final en route to the third four-peat in Centennial Conference history.
Fan support was impressive in both matches. The red squirrel squad shirts dotted the stands and the stadium was filled with cheering throughout the game.
The No. 25-ranked Fords took control early Sunday, winning the first game 25-8. Haverford (30-3) won the next two games 25-20 and 25-22 respectively. The match only took 69 minutes.
Home-court advantage and early momentum helped the Fords earn a .364 attack percentage with 51 total kills. Rebecca Salvo ’10 led the offense with 15 kills and a .419 hitting percentage. Kelsey Cantwell ’11 had 13 kills. Kate Comey ’12 directed the offense’s tempo with her 45 assists, which was a game-high.
The Fords had 52 digs on defense, with four players – Rebecca Salvo ’10, Rachel Salvo ’10, Franny Glick ’11 and Kelsey Cantwell ‘11—in double-figures for the third consecutive match.
Gettysburg (19-9) only managed a .196 attacking percentage and 33 kills. No one for the Bullets scored double-digit kills.
There was a respectable amount of fans cheering for Swarthmore during Saturday’s semifinal match. Ultimately, though, they were left with little to cheer about as Haverford finished with a 3-1 victory (25-18, 25-7, 22-25, 25-21).
After dominating the first two sets, the third set was neck-and-neck. Two Haverford attack errors and three Garnet kills pushed Swarthmore up 24-21. The last Swarthmore point sent the game into the fourth set.
Haverford started out strongly in the fourth set, but Swarthmore seemed to gain momentum, cutting their deficit to five (20-15). The two teams battled it out for the next four points for a score of 22-20. Haverford claimed the next two points and closed things out with a kill by Kelsey Cantwell ’11.
Cantwell played especially well, leading the Fords with an impressive 20 kills.
Kate Comey ’12 was impressed with Swarthmore’s performance.
“I expected to win in three, but they played us tough,” Comey explained. “[Now], we’re at the part that really matters. We’re expecting big things out of the playoffs.”
Emily Mills’13 felt good about the victory.
“The captains were supportive and energetic and continually lead the team to victory,” she said.
The Fords will advance to the NCAA Division III Regionals. Their opponent and destination were announced Monday morning, after press time.
This article is © 2008 The Bi-College News. The material on this page is free for personal or educational use, but may not be reproduced, reprinted, republished, redistributed, or otherwise transmitted to a third party without the express written permission of The Bi-College News, 370 Lancaster Ave, Haverford, PA 19041.
Editor's note: Articles that appear in the Last Word section are works of satire.
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