Haverford

Postcard from Abroad: Jerusalem, Israel

By Contributing Writer Jessica Blitz

Shalom from Jerusalem!  To avoid sounding stereotypical, I will not say that studying abroad is amazing, but instead use words like “interesting!” and “delicious!” and most of all “complex.”  Jerusalem, and Israel/Palestine in general, is so much more than a news briefing from CNN or the New York Times will ever truly capture. It is full of more fresh food than I have ever seen in my life.  It is full of the most adorable stray cats (as many as the squirrels back home).  It is full of wonderful people who want to talk to you about the election in the states and then invite you to their home for Shabbat dinner or tea ten minutes after having met you in line in the grocery store.  It is rich in history and rich in culture and rich in people wanting to share all of it with you.

I’ve been here two months and I’ve been to Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Tiberius.  I’ve been to the top of Masada, I’ve hiked Ein Gedi, I’ve floated in the Dead Sea, and I’ve camped under the stars on a Mediterranean nature preserve.  I took advantage of cheap European flights and backpacked Eastern Europe.  I’ve been to synagogues, churches, and the Baha’i World Center.  I was invited to a Jewish Orthodox home for Rosh Hashanah dinner the first night, and spent the second night with my secular program coordinator and her family.  I’ve eaten some of the best shakshuka, baklava, Ethiopian food, and Yemeni bread that I can imagine exists—and of course, more hummus then I care to disclose.  I’ve taken a traditional post-Shabbos dinner walk home and participated in an interfaith communication study.  My professors are Israeli, Palestinian, Argentinian, and Scottish.  My academic advisor was originally from Wynnewood, PA.

My friends here and I all came to Jerusalem with our own preconceived biases and opinions about what studying abroad here would entail, and our own feelings towards Israel/Palestine.  Being here, though, teaches you that as a student abroad, the best thing to do is be quiet for a little, listen to the people who know more than you, see as much as possible, and walk away still just as baffled by the complexity as you walked in but with five months worth of extraordinary experiences and a brand new appreciation for blended chickpeas.

Haverford, Sports

Haverford’s Women’s Soccer Flying High

By Staff Writer Pat O’Shea

Picture this: if a hawk flies over Historic Walton Field before a Haverford women’s soccer game, it is considered a good omen. According to goalkeeper Katharine Prescott ’17, who was told by those who came before her, “it was good luck when the team saw a hawk flying over the field on game day or during a practice.” The belief in this superstition led to the ‘Haverhawks’ moniker that the team now embraces as their unofficial mascot. It seems as though the Haverhawks have seen a lot of hawks flying overhead this season as they are well positioned to make a serious run in the Centennial Conference playoffs after a brief two-year hiatus.

A large factor in this season’s success may actually stem from the team embracing their mascot. The offense has been performing much like a bird of prey, out shooting their opponents 257—good for fourth in the Conference— to 117 shots against, while scoring 24 goals in 16 games compared to allowing only seven goals. Their goals against average of 0.42 is also second in the conference, which is a good sign for the playoffs with the old adage: defense wins championships. Skyler Ellenberg ’18 believes that the massive gap in shot differential stems from simple origins: “We take a lot of shots and we have such a strong defense that we don’t concede a lot… [other teams] have a hard time generating goals from the attack because of the strength of our back line.”

Abby Crowley '19 delivers the ball into the box
Abby Crowley ’19 delivers the ball into the box

One of the key contributors on the defensive side of the ball is Abby Letts ’17, who brings up perhaps the biggest reason for this year’s success: “We place a huge emphasis on ‘our family versus their team,’ because at the end of the day we are playing for each other. We see the amount of work, dedication, and sacrifice each teammate gives to this team, so every sprint we run, every hard tackle we make, we do it for the girl standing next to us.”

Prescott ’17 says that the team “goal” at the beginning of the season was “to make it to playoffs,” and with their victory at Washington College on Wednesday, they clinched that elusive playoff spot. Taylor Cross ’18 is confident that the Haverhawks will be playing past Saturday’s game because the “postseason is in our control, and that is an amazing feeling to have. We do not need certain teams to lose or big upsets to happen. We just need to play our game and continue to work hard in our last week of regular season.”

Part of the team’s strength this year is also their depth. Fourteen different players have scored a goal during the 2016 season, while 16 players in total have either recorded a goal or an assist. Cross ’18 says “the larger roster has been great for the team this year. It has allowed us to make more substitutions and have fresh legs on the field at all times. We can outrun teams and play at a high level for the full 90 minutes.” Of course, it always helps when the substitutes are a threat to score at any given moment. The focus on roster depth by Coach Jamie Schneck also bodes well for beyond this season as eight of the top ten leaders in points will return next year.

Raina Fitzpatrick '18 takes possession of the ball
Raina Fitzpatrick ’18 takes possession of the ball

While depth has been a game-changer for the team, it certainly helps having a goalkeeper like Prescott ’17. She ranks fifth in the conference in save percentage (.863), last in saves (44), and third in goals against average (0.43). One could argue that her save total could be higher if not for her stellar defense playing in front of her.

The team is coming off a big win over Washington College, and now they look to travel to face rival Swarthmore on Saturday at 7PM for their last game of the regular season. A win in this game or a Gettysburg loss or tie to Johns Hopkins on Saturday will clinch the #4 seed in the playoffs for Haverford, allowing them to host the first round game on November 2nd.

Photos by Photography Editor Wanyi Yang

Bryn Mawr, Sports

Student-Athlete Profile-Allie Nagelski’17

By Features Editor Sophie Webb

If you follow Bryn Mawr volleyball, then you’ve probably heard of Allie Nagelski ‘17. If you don’t, keep reading to learn more about one of Bryn Mawr’s most exceptional athletes. Nagelski is a senior at Bryn Mawr and is not only one of the stars of the volleyball team, but of the entire athletic department. She hails from Huntersville, North Carolina, and started playing volleyball there in a recreational league around the age of ten. According to Nagelski, she quickly fell in love with the “dynamic nature” of the game, “the feeling of sprawling out on the floor to get an incredible dig” and the harmony within a team. “It’s essentially the lava game,” she explains, “…you do anything that you can to prevent the ball from touching the ground.”

Throughout her career at Bryn Mawr, Nagelski’s stats have been nothing short of impressive. She has 28 career kills, 20 of them from this season alone, as well as 909 career digs, with two more matches to go in the season to improve her career statistics. With nearly a thousand digs, Nagelski will likely go down in the record books as fourth in career digs at Bryn Mawr. Recently, she had a very strong performance at the Smith College Invitational when she got 33 digs, four kills and an ace and was also named to the All-Tournament Team.

Besides from representing Bryn Mawr during volleyball season, Nagelski is also committed to the student athlete experience off the court. She served as the vice president for the Student Athletic Advisory Committee (SAAC), for two years. Nagelski speaks highly of the student athlete experience at Bryn Mawr, saying, “I cannot express how much I love the student athlete community here. We all know what challenges student athletes face in terms of balancing academic, athletic and social commitments, so we are the biggest advocates for each other on and off the court/field/etc. There’s a lot of comradery and support, even between teams and within the entire department.”

As far as the rest of the season goes, Nagelski hopes “we continue to grow as a team and put our best effort out for every game. You can’t always control the outcome, but you can always give 100%.” Nagelski and the Owls close out the season on Saturday, October 25th, at Penn State-Abington with a doubleheader against the host and Goucher College.

Photo by Ethan Lyne