Senior Day Show Ends in Defeat
SWARTHMORE, Pa. -- The Garnet volleyball team honored its senior captains, Erin Heaney and Jen Wang, before a record-setting crowd Saturday afternoon in Tarble Pavilion. Visiting Gettysburg was not as hospitable, defeating Swarthmore 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-9) in Centennial action.
A vocal crowd poured into Swarthmore’s gymnasium, drawn by free brownies, t-shirts-for-aces and a chance to show appreciation to two of the best volleyball players to wear a Garnet uniform. The attendance count topped off at 214, setting a new Tarble Pavilion record for a Swarthmore volleyball match.
An exciting first set raised the noise to a fevered pitch with each team displaying superior defensive skills. The Bullets produced a formidable wall at the net (10.5 blocks on the day) while Swarthmore showed off its reliable passing skills (Centennal-best 19.0 digs per set) 55 total digs on Saturday. The Bullets rallied from a 10-point deficit to steal the first set and rolled the momentum into the rest of the afternoon.
Wang (Palo Alto, Calif. / Henry Gunn) added to her school-record season kill total, posting eight on Saturday afternoon for 329 on the season. She is now just 11 kills from breaking the career kill record, currently held by Erica George ’07 (1151).
Heaney (Buffalo, N.Y. / City Honors) is also etched into the Swarthmore record books. The vocal libero produced a team-high 18 digs on Saturday afternoon to increase her career total to 1,548. She is the only Garnet player to surpass 1,500 digs in a career and now ranks 14th in Conference history.
Swarthmore (6-17, 2-6 CC) also got a eight kills and 11 digs from freshman outside hitter Genny Pezzola (Oakland, Calif. / St. Mary’s College HS) while junior setter Kearney Bangs (Kingston, Wash. / North Kitsap) posted 20 assists and four service aces.
The Garnet will play their final home match of the 2008 season this Wednesday, Oct. 29 when Haverford visits campus for a 7:00 p.m. match.
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