2007 Season Preview
Following the 2006 season with an overall record of 12-13, the Garnet look forward to returning the Centennial Conference playoffs with a strong core of veterans. Each member of the 2007 Swarthmore volleyball team will be asked to step up and fill the void left by the graduation of outside hitter Erica George '07. George left campus as the best volleyball player in school history, standing as the only Swarthmore player to earn All-Centennial three times while establishing school records for kills (1,151) and digs (1,477).
The Centennial coaches hold little hope for the Garnet in 2007, ranking the team seventh in the pre-season poll with 42 points. A clear-cut favorite is not evident though, defending Centennial champion Haverford was picked to repeat in 2007 with 94 points, but is followed closely by Franklin & Marshall (91 points) and Gettysburg (83).
 |
| Libero Erin Heaney '09 is on pace to break the school's digs mark. |
Sixth-year head coach Harleigh Leach, who directed the Garnet to the 2005 Centennial Conference playoffs (the first in school history), thinks otherwise and will look to captains Katherine Gold '08 (Cherry Hill, N.J. / Cherry Hill East) and Erin Heaney '09 (Buffalo, N.Y. / City Honors) to lead this year's team. Gold, a middle blocker, totaled 154 kills and was second on the team with 0.79 blocks per game in 2006 (eighth in the Centennial). Heaney, the team's libero and vocal leader, is on pace to break George's dig record after collecting a career-high 414 digs last season (4.4 per game, good for top-10 in the Centennial).
Junior outside hitter Jen Wang (Palo Alto, Calif. / Henry Gunn) is the top returning offensive force for Swarthmore, having been named All-Centennial as a freshman in 2005.
 |
| Jen Wang '09 made All-Centennial as a freshman. |
Wang led the team with 45 aces in 2006, finishing second in points (254), kills (191) and digs (325) and will become the focus of the offense now that George has departed. Sophomore Johanna Bond (Pittsford, N.Y. / Pittsford-Sutherland) provides a spark off the bench, having posted 70 kills and 147 digs in her first season.
Two returning seniors, Karen Berk (Havertown, Pa. / Haverford) and Vanessa Wells (Chicago, Ill. / Lincoln Park) should continue to bring a dominant force at the net for Swarthmore. Berk, a two-time All-Centennial basketball player, led the Conference in blocks (133) and blocks per game (1.45) last season, while listing third on the team with 170 kills. She will add to her school record for career blocks (349), climbing higher up the Centennial all-time rankings (currently tenth). Wells had a break-through season in 2006, using her impressive reach to total career-highs with 169 kills and 68 blocks.
Sophomore setter Kearney Bangs (Kingston, Wash. / North Kitsap) returns to run the offense after a freshman campaign where she finished fifth in the Centennial with 8.67 assists per game. Classmate Monica Joshi (Woodbridge, Va. / Washington International School) will provide added depth in the backcourt as a defensive specialist.
The Garnet begin the 2007 season in upstate New York at the Red Dragon Classic hosted by SUNY-Cortland on Aug. 31-Sept. 1. Swarthmore will host Marymount and Neumann in their first home contest - at tri-match scheduled for Sept. 8. The team hosts the annual Garnet Classic on Sept. 15-16 and will begin the Centennial portion of the schedule with a home match vs. Dickinson on Sept. 19.
Centennial Pre-season Poll
School (1st-place votes)
1. Haverford (5)
2. Franklin & Marshall (4)
3. Gettysburg (2)
4. Johns Hopkins
5. Dickinson
6. McDaniel
7. Swarthmore
8. Muhlenberg
9. Washington
10. Ursinus
11. Bryn Mawr