ALLENTOWN, Pa. - The Haverford College volleyball team (10-5, 1-1 CC) earned a hard-fought 3-1 road win over Muhlenberg (8-12, 0-2 CC) on Wednesday night at Memorial Hall, rebounding from a tight opening-set loss to control the match thanks in part to a sharp third-set hitting percentage of .452. Set scores were 28-30, 25-21, 25-15, 25-18.
Haverford opened with early momentum. First-year Elizabeth Cella and junior Gia Frank provided early offense as the Fords jumped ahead 6-1, helped by a service ace from Kayla Chu and several strong defensive plays that kept the Mules out of system.
Muhlenberg responded with a run fueled by Christina Marcin, pulling within a point before evening the score late. Muhlenberg took a 24-23 lead with a 4-0 run, and the teams were deadlocked at 26-26 following a kill from Frank. Muhlenberg went ahead 27-26 on a Marcin kill, but a kill from Fiona Moord tied things again at 27-27. Natalia Angolet gave the Mules set point, but Haverford answered with an Eliana Brown kill. From there, Abigail Oswari delivered consecutive kills to give the hosts a 30-28 victory in the first frame.
The Fords reset in the second set with a strong opening stretch. Frank and Turner combined on an early block, and Frank and Moord then teamed up to give Haverford a 3-2 advantage. A run punctuated by kills from Brown and Izabela Potocnjak pushed Haverford ahead 14-9. The Fords' offense then found rhythm, with a 4-0 run pushing the lead to 22-17 before kills from Brown and DeBlecourt gave Haverford set point. Muhlenberg trimmed the lead to three at 24-21, but Cella delivered the frame to the Fords with a kill at 25-21.
Haverford took command in the third, opening with a Turner kill and quickly extending the lead to 7-2. The Fords widened the gap to 14-4 with an 11-2 run as Brown and Cella continued to convert efficiently, and Haverford rolled to a 25-15 set win, hitting .452 in the frame with just two attack errors.
Carrying that momentum into the fourth, Cella tallied two early kills to establish the rhythm, and Haverford took a 6-3 lead following several Muhlenberg attack errors. The Fords seized control with a sustained run behind DeBlecourt at the service line. After the Fords regained serve with a Moord kill, DeBlecourt oversaw a run that took the score from 10-8 to 17-8, effectively putting things out of reach for the Mules. Brown's service ace made it 19-11, and another 3-0 spurt capped by a Potocnjak ace made it 22-13 in favor of the visitors.
Haverford's defense stifled a late Muhlenberg push after the hosts rallied to within five at 22-17. Chu's ace and a final kill from Charlotte Dziki sealed the 25-18 win and the 3-1 match victory.
Cella led the attack with 18 kills and 14 digs, while Brown added 14 kills and 19 digs. Chu posted 21 assists and 12 digs in another well-rounded double-double effort. DeBlecourt had a match-high 26 assists, while Frank registered a team-best six blocks. Kira Chaney established a new career best with six assists and in total, five Fords recorded double-digit digs.
Marcin paced Muhlenberg with 16 kills, while Emma Laskaj finished with 17 digs, one of four Mules in double figures.
Volleyball returns home Saturday, October 11, to host McDaniel in Centennial Conference play at Gooding '84 Arena. First serve is set for 1 p.m.
