Box Score CLAREMONT, CA: #10 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps withstood a late Pomona-Pitzer to hold on for a 3-1 victory Tuesday night and take the first leg in the Claremont Colleges rivalry.
A slow start for the Sagehens (8-10, 3-6 SCIAC) ultimately proved to be their undoing as a tenacious CMS offensive attack paved the way for 25-12 and 25-16 victories in the first two sets. However, Pomona-Pitzer would flip the script on the Athenas (16-4, 6-2 SCIAC) in the third set as the Sagehens used a 5-0 run out of the gates to lead wire-to-wire, winning 25-20. Finally finding their footing, the Hens battled back and forth early in the fourth set before the Athenas would put the match away on a 12-2 run to clinch the final set 25-14.
Sophomore Kate Porter (pictured) and Junior Stephanie Sun were the catalysts for the offense as they combined for 15 (8/7) of the Sagehens' 29 kills. Porter would also add two service aces and two digs while Sun would compile six digs and one block on the evening. Junior Sarah Gamble and Sophomore Jessica Finn were the big contributors to an impressive serving performance against CMS, tallying six (3/3) of the nine total service aces for the Sagehens. Sophomore Natalie Martin added a big defensive performance for Pomona-Pitzer as well, compiling a career high ten digs while Senior Michelle Schultz also notched a game high of 25, her 11th game of the season with 20-plus digs.
"We just put ourselves in too deep of an early hole for us to overcome" said head coach Valerie Townsend. "While on the one hand I'm proud of how the girls have continued to fight back and show some grit in tough situations, we've got to be more consistent in getting that type of focus and execution in every set of a match. We will need to improve on executing our gameplan from the first serve and just shift our focus now on getting prepared for Occidental."
Pomona-Pitzer will be back in action on Friday night as they host the Occidental Tigers in Voelkel Gymansium at 7:30pm. Live coverage of the match will be brought to you on the Pomona-Pitzer Athletics Website.
