Pomona-Pitzer Volleyball traveled to the University of La Verne
for their first SCIAC contest of the 2010 season. Playing on
the Leopards home court has never been an easy task for the Hens,
however tonight proved to be a turning point.
The Hens began the match ready to fight. In the opening
set, senior Eleanor Hughes led
the way with 6 kills and 12 digs en route to a 25-22 victory.
There was much of the same in the second set with a 25-23 win
putting the Hens up 2-0 in the match.
The Leopards are never a team to fade away and they came out
strong in the third set hitting .200 with 19 kills.
Even with their attacking power, the set was a close one where the
Sagehens battled from behind bringing the set to a tie at 23.
However La Verne stayed strong and finished the set with a win at
27-25. With the momentum from set three, the Leopards raced
out to a 7-1 lead in the fourth before Pomona -Pitzer would battle
back. The deficit was just too large to overcome as La Verne
forced a fifth and deciding set with a 25-19 victory.
Behind the strong serving of Kenzie Aries, the
Sagehens turned the tables and took a 7-2 lead that was never
relinquished. Although the Leos fought back to come within
three points at 10-7, the Hens would not give up and a final kill
by sophomore middle hitter Rachel Bollens
sealed the victory for the Sagehens!
In 2009 the Sagehens gave Coach Cowan her first victory over La
Verne in her tenure as the Pomona-Pitzer coach. Tonight the
Hens provided her with her first win in the Super Tents, and she
was very pleased with the overall effort.
Eleanor Hughes led the attack with 22 kills in 58 attempts for a
.293 hitting percentage while tallying 17 digs, 2 service aces and
2 blocks. Jordan Hammond also
played well with 10 kills and a strong showing at the service line.
Rachel Bollens added 9 kills and 3 blocks in the win.
Kenzie Aries again spread the offense out pretty will with
38 assists, 15 digs and 5 blocks while junior Libero Heidi Leonard had a
team high 30 digs and passed well in serve receive. Defensively we
had five players in double digits with sophomore Lauren Kim and freshman
Beth
Smilkstein giving a strong performance with 19 and 18 digs
respectively.
The five set battle was a match that fans were sure to enjoy as
the Sagehens racked up 113 digs and 9 blocks while the Leopards
tallied 105 digs and 11 blocks. This defense kept both teams
from hitting a high percentage with PP hitting .136 on the match
and ULV at .115.
Heidi Leonard notched her 1000th career dig in the match and
her total now lies at 1005 career digs.
Pomona-Pitzer has a tough opening week hosting Occidental College
on Friday night (7:30pm) then defending SCIAC Champion University
of Redlands on Saturday at 6 pm.
