Box Score

BALTIMORE–A timely kill by Sarah Wallace ended a tense fourth set and gave the Swarthmore College volleyball team a spot in tomorrow's Centennial Conference championship after a 3-1 victory over the Muhlenberg Mules.

The Garnet won by a 25-19, 25-23, 24-26, 29-27 score after saving three set points as the Mules tried to force a decisive fifth set. Swarthmore will face host and top-seed Johns Hopkins in a rematch of last season's championship, which the Blue Jays took by a narrow, 3-2 margin.

Swarthmore hit .237 in the match and capitalized on 16 service errors by the Mules. Wallace finished with a double-double behind 15 kills and a match-high 22 digs while Malia Scott filled the box score with 38 assists, nine digs and seven kills. Mehra den Braven nearly notched a double-double (16 kills, 9 digs) and Olivia Leventhal and Emma Morgan-Bennett both factored into four of the team's seven blocks.

The Garnet controlled the first set and eventually expanded their lead to 10 at 23-13. The Mules rallied and took six consecutive points to force a timeout. A Muhlenberg miscue brought Swarthmore a set point and a kill from Scott put the team ahead after one.

In the second, den Braven and Wallace swung six kills apiece and Sarah Girard led the team with seven digs. Swarthmore led wire-to-wire, but still faced a spirited battle from Muhlenberg. At 23-20 in favor of the Garnet, the Mules came within one before two Wallace kills moved Swarthmore one set away from the championship match.

Nine ties and seven lead changes marked a back-and-forth third set. Swarthmore held a match point opportunity at 24-23, but Muhlenberg took three straight and kept its postseason hopes alive.

In the final frame, Swarthmore established control early with a 9-4 margin that forced a timeout. The Mules closed the gap to one and later tied the match at 19 apiece in front of a divided crowd. After a brief regrouping, Swarthmore pushed out to a 22-20 lead. Three consecutive points put Muhlenberg ahead and it held the first set point at 24-23. Den Braven swung a kill to even the score and recorded another one when the Mules went back ahead 25-24. Swarthmore would win two more points for a second match point opportunity, but could not convert. The third time was the charm as Wallace buried two kills down the stretch to clinch.

The Garnet take on 14th-ranked Johns Hopkins tomorrow, Sunday Nov. 5 at 1 p.m. for the conference crown and the Centennial's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. The match promises to be a close one as the last three meetings between the teams have gone the distance to five sets.