BY GENEVRA PITTMAN

In print | Published October 28, 2004

It would have been almost too good to be true. The Garnet volleyball team was on the verge of pulling out a Red Sox-like victory over rival Haverford Tuesday night, coming back from being down 2-0 to tie the score at 2-2. The Fords managed to regain their momentum and take the final game, but not before Swarthmore sent the message that it is not to be taken lightly.

After Haverford went up 30-25, 30-21 on its home court, it appeared a sweep was looming. But the Garnet showed tenacity as it fought back by winning the next two games, 30-26 and 30-22. The comeback fell just short, however, when the Fords pulled out the final game, 15-9 to clinch the match.

“It was a great match,” coach Harleigh Leach said. “It’s just a little disappointing that we weren’t able to finish in the fifth game.” Though Swarthmore turned it around in the third and fourth games, Haverford had a strong run at the end of the fourth that gave it the momentum going into the final game, Leach said.

Despite the loss, coming so close to beating Haverford on its home turf was an accomplishment for the Garnet, which has a history of falling to the Fords when facing them as visitors.

“We went in knowing [the history of the rivalry] and knowing how great it would be to beat Haverford,” Darcy Nelson ’06 said. Though the team came up shy in the end, a number of impressive individual performances brightened the outcome for the Garnet.

Key to the Garnet’s charge were two young, yet dominating, players, Erica George ’07 and Katie Gold ’08. George has been an offensive force for the Garnet all season, and added 19 kills to her team-leading 309 kills on the season. She also recorded 30 digs in the match.

Gold, who missed the early part of the season due to an ankle injury, has been making up for lost time ,despite the fact that she is not completely healed. Against Haverford, she had 31 digs and contributed 14 kills. Leach had nothing but praise for Gold after the match.

“Katie has played a great couple matches,” she said. “She’s just an aggressive athlete. I’m really excited for the future with her being just a freshman.” Leach has plenty to be excited about, with two other first years, Vanessa Wells and Karen Berk, also making significant contributions this season. Co-captain Emily Conlon ’06 added 48 assists in the match.

The loss brought the squad’s record to 9-17 on the season and 2-8 in Centennial Conference games, meaning the Garnet will not be one of the five teams to qualify for the conference championships next weekend.

Swarthmore will play its final match of the season Saturday at 1 p.m. against Salisbury. The game will be the last in the Tarble Pavilion for co-captain Natalie Dunphy ’05 and Erica Newton ’05. These two athletes will be honored before the game in part of a team tradition.

“The honor is definitely well deserved,” Leach said. “Those two individuals have done a lot to set a standard for our program. They are going to be missed a lot.”

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