CLAREMONT, Ca. – The Pomona-Pitzer volleyball team took down the Whittier Poets 3-2 (25-13, 25-13, 15-25, 21-25, 15-11) with Chloe Gill leading the attack with 20 kills and a .255 clip on the day. Naomi Chen-Mallouk also picked up double-digit kills with 11 and a .269 hitting percentage. Lauren Asato recorded 29 digs while Adrienne Tong dished out 32 assists.

How It Happened

The Sagehens made quick work of set one, starting off on a 10-3 run with kills from Paige Wilson, Chloe Gill, Naomi Chen-Mallouk, Laurel Park, and Kellan Hayes. The Poets responded with a short 4-1 run, but Pomona-Pitzer kept their foot on the gas pedal, charging forward to a 18-8 lead with a 7-1 run. Down the stretch, the Sagehens saw kills from Naomi Chen-Mallouk, Chloe Gill, Grace Fan, and Laurel Park as they took set one 25-13. 

Pomona-Pitzer picked up right where they left off, this time going on an 11-3 run to open the set with Kellan Hayes and Chloe Gill leading the attack. The Poets battled back with a 4-0 run but once again the Sagehens began to pull away as Kylie Mies, Paige Wilson, Naomi Chen-Mallouk, Grace Fan, and Chloe Gill all contributed to the attack to take a 20-11 lead. The Poets called a timeout, but the break only provided them two more points as the Sagehens went on a 5-2 run to close the set out and take a 25-13 lead for the second time of the day. Set two featured the Sagehens best attack as they swung .444 in the set with 15 kills and three errors on 27 attempts. 

The Poets regrouped after the first two sets and started set three on an 8-1 run. The Sagehens attempted to close the gap, but Whittier continued to attack, working their way to a 19-12 lead before the Sagehens called a timeout. Out of the break, the Poets picked up three-straight points before Naomi Chen-Mallouk and Chloe Gill added two points to the stat sheet to make it 22-14. The Poets went on to take the set 25-15 after a short 3-1 run, setting the match score at 2-1 in favor of Pomona-Pitzer.

Set four saw the Sagehens take a 2-0 lead after two attack errors from the Poets to start the game. Whittier quickly turned things around, utilizing a 13-3 run to take a 13-5 lead over Pomona-Pitzer. The Sagehens answered back with a 14- 4 run to regain the lead at 19-18 in the set, utilizing kills from Chen-Mallouk, Gill, and Adrienne Tong, as well as service aces from Kylie Mies and Tong. After a brief timeout, the Poets went on a 7-1 run to take set four 25-21. 

The Sagehens picked up kills from Chloe Gill and Naomi Chen-Mallouk to start set five on a 4-1 run to force a Whittier timeout. Out of the break, the Poets earned two points, but a Kellan Hayes kill, and Kylie Mies service ace would continue to push Pomona-Pitzer forward with a 7-3 lead. The two teams traded points briefly, but the Sagehens forced multiple Whittier errors before ending the game with a huge block from Naomi Chen-Mallouk and Kellan Hayes, taking the set 15-11 and the game 3-2.

What's Up Next

Pomona-Pitzer will travel to La Verne on Tuesday, Sept. 28 at 7:00 p.m. for their next match.