LA VERNE, Ca. – After dropping set one, the Pomona-Pitzer volleyball team earned three-straight set wins to defeat La Verne 3-1 (19-25, 25-16, 30-28, 25-17). The Sagehens recorded 53 kills overall with Chloe Kerstein and Chloe Gill leading the way, each recording 11 kills. Pomona-Pitzer picked up 12 blocks on the night with Grace Fan helping on eight of them. Lauren Asato recorded 25 digs while Adrienne Tong dished out 24 assists. The Sagehens will return to Claremont on Oct. 1 to take on California Lutheran at 7:00 p.m.

How It Happened

The Sagehens started set one on the wrong side of a 9-3 run but came right back with a 7-3 run, trailing the Leopards 12-10. La Verne Pushed their lead to 15-11 but Chloe Gill and Kellan Hayes helped pulled Pomona-Pitzer within one at 15-14. La Verne pulled away again, this time with a 5-0 run to take a 2-14 lead. The Sagehens responded with a 5-3 run but fell short as La Verne picked up the final two points of the set to take it 25-19.

In set two, the Leopards recorded an attack error before going on a 3-0 run to take a 3-1 lead. Naomi Chen-Mallouk and Chloe Kerstein answered with huge kills to take a 5-3 lead and spark the Sagehens attack. Kellan Hayes, Chloe Kerstein, Grace Fan, and Chloe Gill all recorded kills as the two teams traded blows, working to a 10-10 tie. From there, the Sagehens laid down the hammer, utilizing a 10-2 run with kills from Gill, Kerstein, Hayes, and Wilson to take a 20-12 lead. Pomona-Pitzer only allowed the Leopards to record four more points in set as they used kills from Kerstein, Fan, and Gill to take set two 25-16 and even the match at 1-1.

After a 6-2 La Verne run to start set three, the Sagehens Pushed back as Kellan Hayes and Paige Wilson recorded kills along with a handful of Leopard errors to tie the game at 7-7. La Verne regained the lead with a 4-2 run, but Pomona-Pitzer battled right back with a 4-1 run to take a 13-12 lead. The Sagehens continued to win the attacking battle, seeing kills from Kellan Hayes and a service ace from Kylie Mies to take a 18-16 lead. After a 3-0 run from La Verne, Pomona-Pitzer called a timeout to talk it over. Out of the break, the Sagehens picked up kills from Paige Wilson, Grace Fan, and Chloe Gill, taking a 23-21 lead which forced a La Verne timeout. La Verne was able to pick up two kills out of the break, forcing a Sagehens timeout with the score set at 24-23 in favor of Pomona-Pitzer. The break didn't slow down the Leopards as Noelani Soma picked up her third-straight kill to tie the set at 24-24. The set would see back and forth action, working to a tie on four more occasions before Grace Fan would finish it off with her seventh kill of the night, giving the Sagehens a 30-28 win and the 2-1 lead in the match.

The Sagehens took control of set four early, starting with an 8-4 aided by kills from Gill, Wilson, and Kerstein. La Verne responded with a 5-0 run to take a 9-8 lead but Pomona-Pitzer exploded with a 12-2 run to take a 20-11 lead. The run saw a service ace from Adrienne Tong as well as Paige Wilson, with Naomi Chen-Mallouk, Grace Fan, and Wilson adding in kills. La Verne would pick up five of the next six points, but Kellan Hayes, Chloe Kerstein, and Chloe Gill put on the finishing touches to take set four 25-17 and defeat the Leopards 3-1.

What's Up Next

As mentioned, Pomona-Pitzer will return to Claremont on Oct. 1 to take on California Lutheran at 7:00 p.m.