Season Outlook
Winning a second consecutive conference title, advancing to the regional final and setting a school record for wins is a great season. But after those achievements last fall, the Haverford College volleyball team has their sights set higher in 2008.
The Cast
Last year’s squad featured a mix of veterans and underclassmen. Due to the graduation of four starters, this season the Fords return just two starters in juniors Rachel and Rebecca Salvo. The Salvo’s combined for nearly 900 kills a season ago and swept up the accolades. Rebecca was a Second-Team All-American and earned her second First-Team All-Centennial Conference selection. Rachel was named Centennial Conference Player of the Year and is also a two-time First-Team All-Centennial Conference selection. She garnered honorable mention All-American status last season.
Sophomores Kelsey Cantwell and Franny Glick saw time as defensive specialists in their rookie seasons. Cantwell made 325 digs while Glick recorded 219.
The Schedule
The Fords will play two of the three teams that were in the Mid-Atlantic Regional hosted by Haverford in Gooding Arena in the 2007 postseason. Following a visit to Atlanta, Ga., for the Emory University tournament hosted by an Eagle team that reached the NCAA Final Eight last year, Elizabethtown College hosts the Fords and will attempt to exact revenge on the Haverford squad that ended the Blue Jays’ season last year in the Regional. In October the Fords host Juniata, the team that put a stop to Haverford’s season in that same Regional. Two other NCAA tournament participants, Stevens Tech (Final Eight) and M.I.T., are scheduled to face the Fords in a tournament hosted by Tech in September, and Haverford will make the same trek to Hoboken, N.J., in October to again challenge the Ducks from Tech.