Red Devils Topple Garnet
SWARTHMORE, Pa. - Dickinson remained undefeated in Centennial Conference volleyball action, downing home-standing Swarthmore 3-1 (21-30, 30-23, 30-28, 30-24) in Tarble Pavilion on Friday night.
Swarthmore senior captain Erica George led the team with 10 kills and added 13 digs.
Garnet junior middle blocker Katherine Gold wrote her name on both sides of the first game; the captain led off the match with ace and then capped off the game with her second kill of the night. Swarthmore (10-5 overall, 3-2 CC) raced out to an 18-8 lead before the Red Devils ran off six straight points to force a Garnet time-out. Swarthmore, on the back of kills from Berk, Vanessa Wells '08, and Gold, put together five consecutive points to grab a 25-18 lead on the way to a 30-21 victory.
The Red Devils fought back to claim the second game, breaking an 18-18 tie with an 8-2 run. Dickinson freshman outside hitter Elitsa Gosheva ended the game with a kill down the line.
Dickinson showed resilience in the third game; the Red Devils were down 24-21 and responded with five consecutive points to take a 26-24 lead and force a Garnet timeout. Swarthmore got back-to-back kills from sophomore outside hitter Jen Wang and Wells but Dickinson captured five of the next seven points, capped by a game-winning kill from freshman outside hitter Kristen Lee, to take a 2-1 lead going into the fourth game.
Dickinson (9-10 overall, 3-0 CC) took control of the fourth game 8-3 and Swarthmore went on its own run, tacking on six straight points (two came on aces by Wang) to assume a 9-8 advantage. The Garnet spurted off another 5-1 run fueled by four kills from George and the Red Devils answered with six straight points of their own to assume the 18-14 lead. Swarthmore would not get any closer as Dickinson closed out the match with a 30-24 in the deciding game.
Wells contributed nine kills and four blocks while junior middle Karen Berk posted nine blocks, eight kills, and two aces. Berk now has 299 career blocks, looking to become the 15th Centennial player (and the from first Swarthmore) to eclipse the 300-block mark.
Freshman setter Kearney Bangs was all over the floor for Swarthmore, collecting 34 assists, a team-high 17 digs, and three service aces.
Swarthmore returns to Tarble Pavilion on Wednesday, Oct. 4 when Johns Hopkins comes to Tarble Pavilion for Faculty/Staff Night at 7:00 p.m.