Whittier, Calif. - Freshman Ellen Yamasaki (Salinas, Calif.) had 13 kills and senior Jordan Hammond (Tulsa, Okla. - pictured) added 12 to lead the Pomona-Pitzer Volleyball team to a dramatic five-set win over Whitter in its SCIAC opener.

Set scores were 17-25, 26-24, 25-22, 22-25 and 15-10 in favor of the Sagehens, who improve to 3-7 overall and 1-0 in the SCIAC with the win.

The Sagehens fell 25-17 in the opening set, and were down 19-14 in the second set, before rallying back to level the match at 1-1. Rachel Bollens started the rally with a kill, and three straight Whittier errors put Pomona-Pitzer back within 19-18. With the Sagehens leading 25-24, senior setter Kenzie Aries (Encinitas, Calif.) came up with a clutch service ace to finish off the set.

Yamasaki then took matters into her own hands in the third set, by picking up kills on the final three Sagehen points, as she turned a narrow 22-21 lead into a 25-22 win.
 
After Whittier leveled the match at two sets apiece, the Sagehens held a narrow 9-7 lead in the fifth and decisive set before breaking it open with a 5-0 run.  Kills by junior Erin Toothaker (Portland, Ore.) and Hammond capped off the run to give Pomona-Pitzer a commanding 14-7 lead. Whitter got the next three points to creep back within 14-10, but Yamasaki capped off the match with her second set-winning kill to give the Sagehens the win.
 
Toothaker had five blocks for Pomona-Pitzer defensively, while Sophie Tweed-Simmons (Beverly Hills, Calif.) added three to go along with nine kills.

The Sagehens will be back in action on Tuesday night at home when they host local rival Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in another SCIAC match.