2011 Season Review
2011 Swarthmore Volleyball (24-8, 4th Place CC)
It was a season of milestones for the volleyball team, which reached the Centennial Conference and ECAC playoffs for a third-consecutive season and tied the program record for wins in a season.
The season began with the Garnet dominating the field at the annual Garnet Classic, dropping just a single set in four matches to three-peat as champions. Following strong showings at non-conference tournaments at York College and Moravian, the team opened Centennial play with heartbreaking five-set loses to playoff teams Johns Hopkins, Franklin & Marshall and Gettysburg. The Garnet responded to those tough setbacks in a big way, winning its final nine matches to close out the regular season. That nine-match winning streak helped earn the team the first NCAA Mid-Atlantic regional ranking in program history. Unfortunately, the Garnet’s winning streak came to end in the first round of the Centennial playoffs, as rival Haverford upset the team 3-1. Still, the team’s fantastic regular season was more than enough to earn aa spot in the ECAC South Region playoffs, where it reached the semifinals for the second-consecutive season.
Just as the team saw success in 2011, individuals on the squad broke records and finalized illustrious careers. Genny Pezzola ‘12 completed the greatest four-year career in Swarthmore volleyball history. Pezzola finished her Garnet career as the program’s all-time leader in career kills (1,372) and second all-time in career digs (1,542), breaking the kills mark previously set by Jennifer Wang's '08 (1,171) in a win over Centenary on September 23. The outside hitter also became the first Swarthmore volleyball player named to the AVCA All-Region Team (honorable mention) and first Swarthmore player named to the All-Centennial Conference First Team three times (2009, 2010, 2011). The team’s other two seniors – Hillary Santana and Lisa Shang – also reached milestones during the season, as the pair both joined the exclusive 1,000 dig club in the same match against Ursinus. Pezzola and junior Allie Coleman were also honored for their performance in the classroom, as each was named to the Capital One/CoSida Academic All-District IV First Team.
