CLAREMONT - The Sagehens opened up competition this weekend as they hosted the Pacific Coast Classic.  The home opener against Centre College was a close contest, but Pomona Pitzer was unable to pull it off dropping the match in four.  Offensively the Hens were led by senior outside hitter, Jordan Hammond with 11 kills and junior middle hitter Rachel Bollens with 9 kills and 3 blocks.  Sophomore Sophie Tweed-Simmons tallied 7 kills and 5 service aces while freshman Ellen Yamasaki added 8 kills, 15 assists and 9 digs in the effort. Defensively senior libero Heidi Leonard had a team high 20 digs and sophomore Beth Smilkstein added 15.

The nightcap pitted the Sagehens against the Bearcats of Willamette University in which the Hens pulled off an exciting five set victory.  Ellen Yamasaki had a match high 18 kills along with 2 service aces and  9 digs while Sophie Tweed-Simmons tallied 10 kills and 7 service aces. Senior setter Kenzie Aries dished out 29 assists with 18 digs and 4 blocks, freshman Hannah Wayment-Steele added 9 kills and 2 blocks and Rachel Bollens had 6 blocks.  Again Heidi Leonard led the defense with 21 digs.

Saturday Pomona-Pitzer split a pair of contests with Iowa schools Simpson and Wartburg.  The Sagehens won yet another five set thriller against the Simpson Storm.  Hammond had 10 kills, Yamasaki 8 kills and 11 digs and Bollens 4 blocks.  Aries had 18 assists and 10 digs, Smilkstein 12 digs and Leonard had her season high 40 digs.  In the tournament finale, the Wartburg Knights handed the Hens a 3 set loss.  Yamasaki led the team with 11 kills and a .333 (11-2-27) hitting percentage while Aries dished 20 assists.

Team highs for the tournament included Yamasaki with 45 kills (2.65 kps), Hammond with 3 kills per set, Aries with 81 assists, Tweed-Simmons with 14 service aces, Bollens with 13 blocks and Leonard with 88 digs.  Heidi Leonard earned All Tournament Honors with her 88 digs averaging 5.18 digs per set and 4 service aces.  Leonard passed a 2.4 on the weekend with only 1 receiving error in 88 attempts.