SWARTHMORE, Pa. - The Haverford College volleyball team (12-11, 5-5 CC) was defeated in the season finale by homestanding Swarthmore (17-7, 9-1 CC) on Saturday at Tarble Pavilion, falling by a 3-0 final score to the Garnet. Set scores in the Hood Trophy matchup were 25-23, 25-18, 25-21. Sophomore Taylor Jones had 10 kills to lead the Fords, while Juliet Young added 14 digs. Cameryn DeBlecourt notched 17 assists. Four different Haverford players recorded a service ace.
Swarthmore opened up a big lead in the first set, taking a 17-9 lead behind strong attacks from Chloe Mayhue and a great serving turn from Kaylee Zhang. Undaunted, Haverford fought back with a big run to get right back into things. The Fords were within four at 19-15 following kills from Otridge and Potocnjak, and cut the lead to just two after back-to-back kills from Claire Jordan at 19-17. The Fords kept up the momentum to briefly take a 23-22 lead as DeBlecourt oversaw a run at the service line, but a 3-0 run from the Swarthmore down the stretch eventually put the set away in favor of the hosts.
In the second, Swarthmore went ahead by a 17-10 mark after the two sides were close early following a block from Jordan. Haverford cut the Swarthmore lead down to four at 19-15 but Trisha Razdan went to work with a pair of kills in a stretch that saw the Garnet up 22-15. Haverford rallied with three straight, but Razdan and Zhang each contributed kills down the stretch in a 25-18 win.
The third mimicked the first set in many ways as Swarthmore came out firing on all cylinders, taking an 8-0 advantage and eventually stretching that tally to 16-5. The Fords did not go away, with eight consecutive points to get back to within four at 17-13. That stretch saw Jordan notch a block before kills from Abby Holland and Jones.
The run continued with the Fords getting to within one at 18-17 following back-to-back kills from Otridge and Jones, but again Swarthmore answered down the stretch, with the blocking effort of Zindzhi Montgomery and Razdan putting the Garnet up five at 22-17. Razdan and Zhang were again instrumental in securing a four-point win at 25-21 to hand the Garnet the match.
Zhang had a match-high 12 kills and five service aces, while Dani Pena added 27 assists. Ellie Streeper notched 24 digs while Montgomery contributed five total blocks for the hosts.
The match signaled the end of the career of Haverford's lone senior Kendall Otridge, who appeared in every single match over the course of her career for the Fords. In Saturday's finale, Otridge tallied seven kills against just one error, adding an assist, five digs and a solo block.
Haverford will now head into the offseason as it awaits the release of the 2022 All-Centennial Conference teams, with that release expected in the coming days.