CLAREMONT, Ca. – The Pomona-Pitzer volleyball team celebrated senior day with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-20) sweep over the Chapman Panthers to close out the regular season. Lauren Asato picked up 23 digs on the night but needed just 11 to reach 1,000 in her career. Paige Wilson led the Sagehens attack with 13 kills and a .440 hitting percentage while Chloe Gill recorded 12 kills and a .250 clip. Adrienne Tong and Kylie Mies each picked up 18 assists on the night. Overall, the Sagehens earned 12 blocks with Kellan Hayes assisting on four while Grace Fan picked up a solo block and two assists. The Sagehens will be back in action on Thursday, Nov. 4 with a rematch against the Chapman Panthers in the SCIAC Post Season Tournament Championship Semifinal match at 7:00 p.m.

How It Happened

The first featured a back-and-forth battle with Pomona-Pitzer taking an early 4-2 lead before falling behind 8-6. The Sagehens went on a short 3-0 run with kills from Chloe Gill and Paige Wilson to take a 10-9 lead, but the Panthers surged forward with a 6-3 run to take the lead at 15-13. The Sagehens earned 12 of the next 15 points with kills from Wilson, Gill, Kellan Hayes, Chloe Kerstein, and Grace Fan, taking set one 25-18.

In set two, the Sagehens got out to an early 4-1 lead and extended it to 9-4 with kills from Naomi Chen-Mallouk, Chloe Gill, Grace Fan, Kellan Hayes, and a service ace from Gaby Harrison. The Panthers rallied back, closing the Sagehens lead down to two points on two occasions before pulling within one at 17-16. From there, the Sagehens earned kills left and right as Hayes, Wilson, and Kerstein all hit heavy attacks to force a Chapman timeout leading 22-17. Out of the break, Chapman earned three-straight points, forcing a Sagehen timeout but Wilson and Gill both earned kills en route to a 25-22 set two victory.  

Chapman controlled the run of play for the beginning of set three, getting out to a 6-2 lead before extending it to 10-6. The Sagehens tied things up at 10-10 with kills from Kerstein and Chen-Mallouk along with a block from Chen-Mallouk and Fan. The Panthers briefly regained the lead at 14-12 but a 7-1 Sagehen run gave Pomona-Pitzer the lead at 19-15. Chapman responded with a 5-2 run to pull within one at 21-20 but the Sagehens forced three Panthers attack errors and a Paige Wilson kill to take set three 25-20 and earn the sweep over the Panthers. 

What's Up Next

With the regular season complete, the Sagehens officially lock up the No. 2 seed and will host the Chapman Panthers on Nov. 4 at 7:00 p.m. for the conference semifinal.