Volleyball Knocks off La Verne
Weekly update for Sept. 29-Oct. 3
Tuesday, Sept. 29
The Sagehens set their goal for a 3-0 week knowing it was a difficult task with the teams they would face. They started the week traveling to#24 ranked California Lutheran to play on a court where the Hens have not yet won. The match started with Cal Lu taking a sizeable lead and nerves getting the best of us, but we fought back to make the first set competitive finally losing 21-25. The Hens then used that momentum to take the second set 25-22. The third set was a close battle with the hens prevailing 27-25 behind the play of Sarah Amos and Jordan Hammond with 5 and 4 kills, respectively, the setting of Kenzie Aries and the defense and passing of Heidi Leonard.
Cal Lu came back as expected in the fourth taking it 25-20 forcing a fifth and deciding set. The fifth set saw the teams exchange sideouts at the start, but Cal Lu charged ahead taking a 12-8 lead. Kenzie Aries then stepped back to the service line and rattled off 5 straight points for the Hens giving them the 13-12 lead before Cal Lu sided out. Cal Lu then took the lead and had match points at 14-13, 15-14 and 16-15 before the Hens earned a side out to tie the score at 16. On a huge stuff block by Rachel Bollens, the Hens earned a match point at 17-16 and a kill by Jordan Hammond (3 kills on 4 attempts) gave us the victory. Eleanor Hughes had four kills in the fifth set. The Sagehens hit .216 (10-2-37) in the deciding set to Cal Lu's .167.
Jordan Hammond led the offense with a team high 17 kills and .412 (17-3-34) hitting percentage with 4 blocks. Sarah Amos provided 15 kills and 20 digs and Kenzie Aries dished out 40 assists and 15 digs. Heidi Leonard had a match high 28 digs, Eleanor Hughes tallied 12 kills and Lauren Kim added 14 digs for the Hens. This is the first time Pomona-Pitzer has defeated Cal Lu since 2003 and its first win in Gilbert Arena. This was Cal Lu's first loss on its home court for the 2009 season and only its second home court loss since 2008.
Friday, Oct. 2
With the 3-0 goal alive and well, the Hens would play host to the visiting Leopards of La Verne, a team that has not lost to the Sagehens during Coach Cowan's 10 year tenure nor since 1997.
The Sagehens came out strong, taking the first set convincingly at 25-18 behind the strong play of Sarah Amos with 5 kills, Dana Kittrelle with 3 kills and Heidi Leonard with 6 digs.
The second set was a closer battle, with the Hens winning 25-23 and taking a 2-0 lead over the Leopards. Leonard had 7 digs and Amos 4 kills in the second set. The third set was even more of a battle and with the Hens up 26-25 it looked as though the match was over when La Verne battled back and took the set 29-27. Eleanor Hughes kept the offense going with 4 kills in the set. The Leos used that momentum in the hard fought fourth set to eek it out 25-23 and force the Hens into their sixth consecutive five set match.
There was more of the same in the fifth, down 6-10 the Hens battled back with a tip for a kill by Jordan Hammond, block by Rachel Bollens and Kenzie Aries and a couple of ULV attacking errors to tie it at 11. A spectacular dig by Lauren Kim followed by another ULV hitting error gave the Hens the 12-11 edge before Crista Jones put down one of her 29 kills for ULV. However a kill by Sarah Amos followed by a service ace from Kenzie Aries put Pomona-Pitzer ahead for good when a kill by Eleanor Hughes sealed the deal at 15-13.
Sarah Amos led the Hen attack with 16 kills, 2 blocks and 11 digs while fellow senior Dana Kittrelle added 5 kills, 4 blocks and 4 service aces. Kenzie Aries dished 38 assists and added 3 service aces and 3 blocks while Eleanor Hughes had 11 kills and 4 blocks. Christine Chan had 10 digs and Heidi Leonard again had a match high 27 digs. Rachel Bollens added 6 blocks and Jordan Hammond had 7 kills in the victory.
Saturday, Oct. 3
The 3-0 goal the Hens set was complete with a sweep over SCIAC opponent Cal Tech on Saturday. The win in three is the first match not to go extra sets since the sweep of Dickinson on Sept. 18.
Carly Hite tallied 9 kills and a .615 (9-1-13) hitting percentage to lead the attack while Jordan Hammond recorded 7 kills. Erin Toothaker and Rachel Bollens each had 6 kills and Catelyn Gumaer dished out 24 assists and had 5 digs for the match. Lauren Kim had a match high 8 digs and Anna Miller posted 7 digs and 2 kills, while Christine Chan added 4 kills on the night.
With this win, the Pomona-Pitzer Volleyball Team has evened its overall record at 8-8 and stands in a three way tie for second place in SCIAC along with Cal Lu and LaVerne all at 4-2. Redlands currently leads the conference at 5-1. The Sagehens head to Whittier on Tuesday for the final match of the first round then host CMS on Friday, Oct. 9 at 7:30pm.
