PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Swarthmore College volleyball team (22-9) finished the 2015 campaign on a very high note as the Garnet won the program's first ECAC title with victories over Lebanon Valley and No. 25 Carnegie Mellon on Saturday, Nov. 14.

Under the direction of head coach Harleigh Chwastyk, Swarthmore posted its fifth season with over 20 wins in the past six years and claimed its second win over a nationally-ranked opponent with the 3-1 championship triumph over CMU. Sophomore outside hitter Sarah Wallace concluded a strong second-year campaign by resetting her own program mark for single-season kills with 459 en route to tournament MVP honors. Wallace compiled 32 kills and 18 digs over the two matches.

The Garnet opened the afternoon against a familiar foe in Lebanon Valley and swept the Dutchmen by a 25-16, 25-23, 25-16 score. Malia Scott filled the box score with eight kill on no errors, seven digs, four assists, four service aces, and two block assists while Bridget Scott led the team with five total blocks. Sam DuBois recorded a double-double on 33 assists and 11 digs and Wallace swung a team-high 14 kills. Lastly, Sarah Girard anchored the Swarthmore defense with 17 digs in the match.

In the first set, the Garnet hit .262 with 14 kills and three errors in 42 attempts while limiting the Dutchmen to a .051 clip. The teams traded points to open the second, but Swarthmore used a three-point run at 13-13 to create some breathing room. Lebanon Valley eventually knotted the set at 20 apiece, but a timeout allowed Swarthmore to regroup and close out the frame. The Garnet finished the sweep in the third on the back of its defense, recording four blocks and limiting LVC to a .000 hitting percentage.

The team avenged an earlier season loss to Carnegie Mellon by beating the Tartans by a 25-23, 23-25, 25-16, 25-22 count. Wallace (18 kills, 12 digs), DuBois (42 assists, 11 digs) and Malia Scott (19 digs, 10 kills) all recorded double-doubles and Girard led the team with 20 digs. Olivia Leventhal also totaled 17 kills for the Garnet attack.

Swarthmore fell behind 12-17 in the first, then it clawed its way back in with a seven-point run for a lead it would not relinquish. The Tartans narrowly edged the Garnet in the second, but the visitors answered with six service aces in the third, including a pair each from Wallace and Girard. Swarthmore withstood a .310 CMU hitting percentage in the fourth and countered with 21 digs and six more aces to pull out the win on a kill by Leventhal.

The team graduates three seniors in Sam DuBois, Madison Heppe, and Anastasia White-Torruellas and will return 11 letterwinners for the 2016 season.