CLAREMONT, CA. – The Pomona-Pitzer Women's Volleyball went the distance against Cal Lutheran University in their SCIAC opener on Friday night, but unfortunately, they fell in five sets 3-2 (22-25, 28-26, 25-23, 11-25, 14-16). Naomi Chen-Mallouk led the team with 19 kills and a solo block while Vicky-Marie Addo-Ashong added 14 kills. Adrienne Tong ended the match with 48 assists, setting a career milestone with her 1000th assist, and Lauren Asato led the team with 20 digs.

Season Impact: The Sagehens are now 6-5 overall and 0-1 in SCIAC.

Tied at 17-17, the two sides couldn't not muster a significant run to pull away with the lead, battling back and forth, a predominant theme for the entire match. Leading 20-19, the Regals mustered a 3-0 run sparked by a kill from Sarah Hein to lead 23-19. The Sagehens tried to battle back, scoring two straight points off a blocking error by Maci Haddad and an attack error by Hein. However, the Regals closed out the match off an attack error by the Sagehens.

The Sagehens responded well in pressure in the second set. Trailing 11-8, Pomona-Pitzer answered back with three straight points, taking advantage of a service error and attack error by the Regals followed by a kill from Brooke Carlson. The Regals battled back and led 20-17, but once again the Sagehens refused to let the game get out of hand, scoring four straight points. With the match tied at 25, the Sagehens emerged victorious in sudden death, as Isabel Kelly landed a kill and Regals committed an attack error to give the Sagehens the second set 26-24.

Once again the third set was a battle of attrition with neither side building a significant lead. However, with the score tied at 21 apiece, the Sagehens took advantage of a service error by the Regals and Gaby Harrison scored a huge service ace to lead 23-21. Two kills by Chen-Mallouk gave Pomona-Pitzer the set advantage 25-23.

The Regals responded in the fourth, cruising to a 25-11 win thanks to adjustments to their defense.

The final set was a nail biter as the Regals clawed back against the Sagehens to cut the lead 7-5. Ahead 8-6, the Sagehens scored three straight thanks to two kills by Kelly and one by Addo-Ashong. However, the Regals came back, scoring six straight in the final stretch to win 16-14.

Up Next: The Sagehens will travel to Whittier College tomorrow night for a match with the Poets at 6:00 p.m.