Thousand Oaks, Calif. - The third-seeded Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Volleyball team, ranked No. 23 in the nation, used an 8-0 run in the fourth set to take control of the match and earn a 3-1 win over second-seeded Pomona-Pitzer in the semifinals of the SCIAC Tournament on Thursday afternoon at Cal Lutheran.

Game scores were 25-20, 25-15, 19-25, 25-21 as CMS avenged two regular season losses to the Sagehens to improve to 24-5 overall and advance to the SCIAC finals against either Cal Lutheran or Chapman. Pomona-Pitzer falls to 20-8 after reaching the 20-win plateau for the first time since 2008.

After falling behind 2-0, the Sagehens took the third set and led 7-2 early in the fourth set before momentum started to turn. Pomona-Pitzer was still clinging to a 14-12 lead, when CMS went on an 8-0 run on Hilary Bruegl's serve to take command at 20-14.

Freshman Kelli Derrah (pictured) stepped up to stop the run and had two kills to try to get Pomona-Pitzer back in it, but Regina Mullen had two of her own to bring the Athenas to match point at 24-18, and after Pomona-Pitzer fought off three of them, Monique Nguyen earned the clinching kill to end the fourth set 25-21.

The first set saw CMS jump out to a 10-5 lead, before the Sagehens chipped away to get back in it. The score was tied 20-20, but Nicole Kerkhof had back-to-back kills to start a 5-0 run to close out the set at 25-20. The second set saw CMS jump out to a 10-4 lead and never seriously get threatened as it pulled away for a 25-15 win and a 2-0 lead.

The third set started out as if it might see the Athenas build a big lead early again, as they led 7-3, but the Sagehens responded with six straight points and 11 of the next 12 to take a 14-8 lead. CMS crawled back to within 17-16, but the Sagehens used a 4-0 run keyed by an Allie Frappier kill and an ace to take control of the set again and pulled away 25-19.

Frappier led Pomona-Pitzer in both kills (16) and digs (23), although she was held well below her average of 6.16 kills per set, which led the nation coming into the postseason. Sophomore outside hitter Michelle Schultz had a strong outing with 10 kills, while senior libero Beth Smilkstein had 17 digs. Junior Kirea Mazzolini led a strong middle defense with seven blocks (of Pomona-Pitzer's 11).

Audrey Breitwieser had a match-high 18 kills, while Kerkhof added 14 and Regina Mullen 13 to lead a balanced offense for the Athenas, which was paced by Bruegl's 50 assists.

Pomona-Pitzer won both regular season meetings, although they were both exceptionally close (27-25, 26-24, 25-23 at CMS, and 3-1, including 35-33 in the fourth set at Pomona-Pitzer).