PITTSBURGH, PA: The Pomona-Pitzer Volleyball Program got off to a rocky start in their first trip to the East Coast since the 2008 season, dropping matches 1-3 and 0-3 to Case Western Reserve and 25th-ranked Mt. Union in Friday's action at the Carnegie Mellon Doubletree Invitational.

Freshman Julia Zwaal (pictured) led the way for the Sagehens in the matinee contest against CWRU with a game-high 22 kills to go with nine digs. Pomona-Pitzer opened the match with a 25-21 first set win before dropping the final three sets 22-25, 23-25, and 19-25 in a back-and-forth barn burner. Case Western Reserve, currently receiving votes in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll, moved to 11-1 (0-0 UAA) with the win while Pomona-Pitzer dropped to 6-3 (2-2 SCIAC) on the season.

Junior Stephanie Sun came up big on both the offensive and defensive end for the Sagehens, adding in 15 kills and 13 digs.  Senior Michelle Schultz tied a season high with 29 digs for the Sagehens to go with 3 services aces and Sophomore Jessica Finn anchored the offense with a game high 46 assists and 10 digs.

The nightcap for Pomona-Pitzer saw them square off against Mt. Union, a preseason Top-15 team and 2014 NCAA Second Round contestant. With comfortable wins in the first two sets at 25-16 and 25-9, the Purple Raiders closed out the third set over the Sagehens 25-18 to claim their 10^th win on the season (10-5, 0-0 OAC).

Pomona-Pitzer was led once again by Freshman Julia Zwaal who posted 9 kills and a game high 10 digs. Other key contributors for the Sagehens were Sophomore Jessica Finn with a game high 22 assists and 8 digs as well as Freshman Sophie Janssen with 6 kills and 2 digs.

Pomona-Pitzer (6-4, 2-2 SCIAC) will continue its tournament slate tomorrow with games against host and 20^th-Ranked Carnegie Mellon at 10 AM followed by John Carroll University at 2 PM. Video for the Carnegie Mellon match can be found here.